Phantom Destiny
by Katherine Daystar
Summary: Two years after the sealing of the Black Wings, a billionaire bent on reviving Dark's power sets his sights on Daisuke. Now Dark must choose: remain sealed to protect the world from Krad, or return them both to an Earth that doesn't want them back. Krad X Sato, Dark X Risa, Sato X Risa
1. Grey Universe

**Story preview:**

This story is set post-anime:

It has been two years since Dark sealed himself with Krad inside the Black Wings. The weight of eternal solitude weighs on both angels hard. But when an obsessive billionaire determined to revive the Black Wings' power sets his sights on Daisuke, Dark is faced with a choice: Endure his captivity forever to protect the world from Krad's vengefulness, or return them both to an Earth that no longer wants them back to save his former wing host.

**I don't want to give away the pairings, but there is definitely some romance in store here. If you would prefer to know the pairings in advance, just review or drop me a message and I'll tell you privately. Also, be aware that later on there will be some violent sexuality involved in the plotline. I will warn you when these things are coming up.**

**Chapter 1: Grey Universe**

"_Don't forget, Dark."_

"_Hm?"_

"_I'm inside you."_

"_Daisuke…"_

"_I won't forget about you. I never will!"_

_The words pressed into the phantom thief's heart, hard enough to squeeze tears into his eyes. There was no more time. The seal was ready; all that remained was to fly through it. Without looking back at his wing host, he dove through the spell, knowing full well he would never see Daisuke again. He would never see any of them again. _

**- o0o0 O 0o0o -**

Mystic violet eyes slowly opened to a world that was dull and gray. Dark sat up and looked around him, displeased but unsurprised. Infinite grayness defined the stagnant landscape for as far as the eye could see in every direction. There was no sky here, no life, and no wind. Barren soil that bore no taste or smell marked which way was down. That was as far as the place went.

The angel idly raked his fingers through the sandy earth. The small trenches filled back into place on their own, correcting the disturbance. This plane was utterly intolerant of change. Nothing grew and nothing moved. A perfect eternal prison. It had been two years since the phantom thief had sealed himself away here in order to protect the world from his counterpart, Krad. Dark tracked the days almost religiously, for the heck of it, though even time was an abstract and blurry concept here.

As if preferring blackness, Dark pressed his eyes shut again and dug tense fingers back through his purple hair. Not a sound, not a pebble moved around him. He could sit there for weeks; the empty world would wait patiently, days or decades, as long as he wanted. He would open his eyes to the same scene. The thief's fiery personality had somehow kept him sane here, but slowly and subtly, the monotony was taking its toll on him. Dark opened his eyes and faced reality, stretching casually and greeting the grey sky with a challenging grin. _Bring it on, eternity. _Remembering to have attitude was his best hope. He'd need it to keep the solitude from gradually etching away at his sanity. Then again, he wasn't exactly the only one there.

"Enjoy your catnap?" came a dry voice. Krad materialized a few feet in front of the black angel. His gold eyes burned down at Dark, dripping with hatred.

"As a matter of fact, I did, until you showed up. Get lost, you're blocking my light," the thief smirked, stretching back on the sand luxuriously with his arms crossed under his head.

"There's no sun here, you fool!" Krad growled.

Dark twitched. "You don't say. Then how do you suppose I got this killer tan? You're looking a little pasty, there."

Krad glowered in response. Even after all this time, that deadbeat had absolutely no sense of humor. "When I escape this place, the first thing I intend to do is put that detestable attitude out of its misery, permanently," the blonde snarled. There was something incomplete to his tone, as though his full resolve wasn't in it.

"Hmph, you let me know when you do."

"Don't play stupid with me! I know you're capable of removing our seal. Your magic put us here, and you know how to get us out."

Dark studied Krad grimly. _'This again,'_ he thought. "We're not going anywhere; a clever guy like you should be able to figure that out," he said sharply, closing his eyes. Any other soul would have been a comfort to him in this barren world, but Krad only added to the thief's private loneliness.

"Don't you dare mock me!" Krad snarled, a glowing white feather appearing between his fingers.

Dark's skin tingled in response to Krad's building magic. His muscles jumped to life, and he threw himself to the side to dodge the blinding explosion. The marred earth spread quickly back into place, level and dull as ever. Dark sprung to his feet and put some space between himself and the blonde. "Krad! Cut it out already!"

"Silence!" he snarled, "I have no intention of remaining in this shitty place forever! Look around you! There's nothing! Rather than sit idly and wait for a miracle, I'd rather dedicate my energy to killing you!" Krad fumed. The white angel's tone was angry, but Dark was very aware of the misery and desperation shining in his eyes. The time they'd spent here had taken a much greater toll on the blonde.

"How many times have we been through this? Do you really think my power is so weak that something like killing me could undo our seal?" Dark returned. "We're here for the long haul, so if you want scenery so bad, you create it. You're the Hikari here."

"What point would there be in that, when I would know it wasn't real, you idiot thief!"

"As you wish," Dark said sternly, indicating that the conversation was over.

Krad cast the phantom thief a livid glare and disappeared in a wisp of white energy.

Dark looked at the empty space where his counterpart had been, neither relieved nor concerned that he was gone. He leaned back again and closed his eyes to the gray universe around him.

**- o0o0 O 0o0o -**

Niwa Daisuke sat pensively at his desk, not sure what to do to pass the time. He was too excited to study, too nervous to sleep… The suit and tie he'd picked for tonight made him look young but debonair, and he wondered for the hundredth time whether it was really alright to leave his hair as it was, sticking wildly up in every direction. Well, she always said she liked it that way.

He found himself idly scanning the titles of every book or folder that was arranged on the shelf atop his desk. His high school texts, art books, a case full of paint, a novel Towa had given her for Christmas and never found time to read, folders of research articles for his upcoming final paper, a photo of himself with Riku… He leaned forward and examined the photo fondly. As he did so, a slightly yellowed envelope, one corner of which was sticking out from the row of books, caught his attention. Not remembering what it was, he pulled it out and looked at it. The front of the envelope was blank, so he opened it and pulled out its contents: a long black feather and a small handwritten note – his own handwriting, two years ago – "don't forget". Daisuke frowned and put the feather and note back inside their envelope, irritated by the slight pang of guilt he felt. He was sixteen, in the middle of the best years of his life. He had a girlfriend and a wonderful family, good friends. Of course, he wouldn't say so out loud, but part of him hardly wanted to remember that time of his life two years past.

_Ding-dong_

Daisuke bolted out of his chair, accidentally knocking the envelope and a stack of magazines off the desk. They scattered on the floor as he rushed to the door and opened it. He looked at the girl on the other side and felt his breath stop for a moment. Riku stood on his doorstep in a long, elegant blue dress. The slight embarrassment on her cheeks at wearing such an outfit only added to her beauty. Daisuke gave her a loving stare and moved forward to kiss her. She closed her eyes and leaned into his embrace happily.

"Happy two-year anniversary," he said as their lips parted, leading her inside.

"Sooo? What's for dinner?" Riku asked playfully as Daisuke led her to the couch and gestured for her to sit down. She knew perfectly well that he couldn't cook for his life, yet he had insisted on making everything for tonight himself. Towa had given him some recipes. He'd probably spent all day preparing them.

"Chicken pamjon and rice," Daisuke said proudly.

Riku giggled. "It's parmesan, Niwa-kun."

Daisuke blushed slightly. "Oh, right!"

Riku smiled and hugged him. It was such a simple meal, but he was clearly proud of it, and so she was also. "Shouldn't you go check on it?"

"It won't come out of the oven for another fifteen minutes," he said, hormones creeping into his voice.

"I guess we'll find some way to pass the time," Riku grinned, leaning into him and lifting her face toward his.

Daisuke smiled gently. "I love you," he said, meeting her lips. She sighed softly and leaned back into the soft cushions of the sofa as he kissed her. Daisuke felt a rush of sensation through his body as her soft lips pressed against his, but as usual, he was too nervous to try pushing her any further. He'd meant to wait until after dinner for this kind of thing, but she was wearing that dress... Their breath came faster as they kissed deeply, oblivious to the world around them even after the oven timer began beeping loudly.

**- o0o0 O 0o0o -**

Dark awoke and sat up, unable to sleep while the intense nervousness that didn't belong to him was nagging in the back of his mind. He rubbed the back of his neck and took a deep breath, which had no impact on the foreign tension.

Daisuke had done something to him when they had separated. Dark thought back to his wing host's words, as he did every day here on this plane. _"I won't forget about you! I never will!"_

Was that it? Was that why, despite the seal, the thief was still sharing in Daisuke's sensations whenever the boy's feelings became intense? It was somewhat relieving to know he was still connected to reality in some way, but the blessing was certainly mixed.

The thief swallowed as a wave of sexual excitement replaced the tension. It pulsed through his body, heating up his blood. The angel took a halting breath and tried to block it out, but as usual, nothing he did would prevent Daisuke's experience from flowing into his mind. His heart beat faster. As usual, he wondered for just a moment which woman Daisuke was with right now. Was he still seeing Riku, or had he maybe gone back to Risa? The thought of the latter raised a slight pang of jealousy in his chest, which he knew perfectly well was inappropriate. He narrowed his eyes in disapproval and got to his feet, walking to take his mind off Daisuke's thoughts. Man, that brat was really enjoying himself. To Dark, though, it was closer to torture.

The thief pulled an agitated hand through his long hair and looked down at his muscular arm. His body existed without food or exercise, yet his muscles remained powerful. His hair never grew, his body never changed – he was exactly the same. Born from a work of art and sealed back inside of it, walking through an infinite gray universe with someone else's thoughts prickling at the back of his consciousness, the thief privately questioned whether he was even really alive.

'_Man, I've got a bad attitude today. Eternity will feel a lot longer if I think pathetic stuff like this,'_ he told himself, hooking his thumbs casually into his pockets and forcing the loneliness out of his mind.

**- o0o0 O 0o0o -**

"Yes?" a twenty-five year old man in an expensive black and gold suit said as he picked up the telephone on his large hardwood desk.

"Sir, this is Mr. Amano Suzuki, from your Tokyo branch, speaking. I trust all is well in Paris."

"Why yes. And have you any news to convey from Tokyo, Mr. Suzuki?" the man said in a voice that was reminiscent of a hawk's descending on its prey. For a man in his forties, he was quite handsome, though something fearsome in his falcon eyes kept even the most imprudent of women from seeking his affections. His dark brown hair was pulled tightly back into a thin ponytail and hung down just past his shoulders.

"I do. One of our informants has brought us word – he has finally been located."

"Good work. I _was_ surprised, though, that it took so long."

Suzuki's voice lost confidence. "I assure you we would have located him much sooner, had not the phantom thief ceased his operations so suddenly. It is possible our presence was somehow discovered and he went into hiding. But now that-"

"Spare me your long-winded explanations. I want the wing-host. I'll be flying into Japan tomorrow. In the meantime, do whatever is necessary to acquire him. My connections will cover your tracks."

"Yes, sir. Than-" the man stammered, but his superior had already hung up.

**- o0o0 O 0o0o -**

Chapter 1: End

_Your reviews could affect how the story proceeds, so please let me know you're out there and what you think! _


	2. Binding Past

**Part 2: Binding Past**

Satoshi Hiwatari sat alone at his father's large oak desk, leaning idly forward on one elbow. He gazed at his other arm with chilled blue eyes, noting that it seemed even thinner than before, his lean muscles giving way to show more and more evidence of the bone underneath. Several students at school had begun to show concern as well, particularly Daisuke, and, of course, Risa.

He smirked slightly and tried to feel lightened by the thought of the girl who had reached out to him after the whole mess with his "other self" was finally over. Today would be their two-year anniversary. A bouquet of gold and red roses sat patiently in a vase by the corner for later, when she would come over for dinner. Satoshi didn't have much intuition for romance, so after hearing from Daisuke that he planned to cook for Riku for their anniversary, Satoshi chose to follow his friend's example. Niwa seemed to know more about such things than he did.

The blue-haired young man pondered why he kept losing weight. The doctors had uncovered nothing physical. Inwardly, he had known this would be the case. The problem was spiritual in some way. That made it, by nature, difficult for Satoshi to put his finger on. He was too practical to think honestly about emotional matters. Was it his adoptive father's death? It had been a much greater blow than he'd expected, but the tragedy had passed, and aside from taking up the man's work, Satoshi rarely brought the old man to mind. He had friends now, people like Daisuke and Riku whom he could talk to when he chose, though his introverted nature made those times rare. And he was in a stable relationship with Risa, for all this time now. Something just wasn't right. Something was missing, as though some part of him had been ripped away. He grimaced in disapproval as one possibility he absolutely refused to acknowledge flickered in his mind.

"Hiwatari-kuuun!"

Risa's soft, cheerful voice made Satoshi spring back in surprise as it interrupted his thoughts. The young girl had flung open the door to his study and presently ran over to him, her hair bouncing with girlish beauty. She came up behind his chair and flung her arms around his neck, giving him a cheerful peck on the cheek.

Satoshi felt his grim expression resolve into a helpless smile. Her lighthearted, easy manner was always contagious to him, and her presence never failed to comfort him. Surely, he thought, that was what it meant to be in love?

"Aren't you early?" he asked her as sternly as he could manage. "I haven't started cooking yet."

"I was falling into a mood, so I thought I'd come visit you sooner," she said with her usual smile.

Satoshi raised an eyebrow at her thoughtfully. She liked to use that phrase fairly often – the concept of falling into 'a mood'. She rarely discussed it in much detail, but from what he could gather, it was just her way of saying she was in low spirits. Satoshi remembered the flowers sitting on the shelf. He stood up and lifted the vase down, handing it awkwardly to Risa.

"Beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman," he attempted, staring at his feet. It sounded all wrong.

Risa's musical laughter made him glance back up in embarrassment. "Hiwatari-kun," she forced out between giggles, "Where did you learn to say that?"

"Daisuke," returned Satoshi, blushing profusely as he looked to a paperweight on his desk for some sort of moral support.

"Silly," Risa said more gently, realizing she might have hurt his feelings, "You don't have to force yourself to say things if they aren't your style." She nestled her cheek against his neck, although there was a faint pang of melancholy in her voice.

"I know," he returned calmly, but inside he knew that she wanted that sort of thing, that it hurt her a little to be reminded that it was something he would probably never manage to be for her, although he kept trying. Despite all her kindness to him, he had the incessant feeling that all he ever did was disappoint her. He swallowed his hesitation and leaned forward, kissing her forehead and pulling her into his embrace. This much, at least, he could do right.

Risa grinned and leaned into his chest. "Sato, you got taller again," she murmured comfortably, using his nickname the way she did when she felt truly intimate with him. She was right. He was in a growth spurt, making his difference in age from the others truly blatant for the first time.

A sharp beeping sound from Satoshi's back pocket effectively broke up the moment. He reached back and pulled out his cell phone, flipping it open in annoyance. "Hiwatari here," he said in aggravation into the mouthpiece. Risa stood back and observed him patiently. _'Shit. I probably shouldn't have answered it,'_ he thought, looking at her apologetically. He'd disappointed her again. Maybe it was her fault for being so tolerant. If she didn't like it, she should put her foot down instead of just looking at him like that, he thought bitterly. He realized guiltily that he was allowing his frustration with himself to be taken out on her.

"Hiwatari-san?" the nervous voice of his secretary on the phone broke his thoughts.

"Yes."

"You have a long-distance call from America waiting here. Shall I put it through?"

"Nancy, I told you I wasn't to be contacted today. I'm taking a holiday."

"Yes, Sir, I know, and I'm terribly sorry to disturb you, but I thought it seemed urgent. It's Mr. Gorudo, Sir," the woman explained nervously.

Satoshi blinked in unpleasant surprise at hearing the name he had hoped to hear the last of, then narrowed his eyes sternly. "Yes, Nancy. Put him through," he said, glancing at Risa.

After a moment, the call connected with a foreboding click and a sharp, patronizing voice spoke through the earpiece. "Hiwatari Satoshi, it's been a long time."

"Indeed." Satoshi made no effort to hide the contempt in his voice.

"Why, Hiwatari-san, you don't sound happy to hear from me. Surely, you haven't forgotten my assistance in your efforts to capture Dark Mousy."

"Your financial support was most crucial, sir," he replied, forcing polite gratitude into his tone.

"I loathe niceties, so I'll get straight to business. Despite your highly disappointing lack of interest in assisting me, my company's men have finally discovered the location of Kaitou Dark's wing host."

Satoshi's jaw tightened. "Congratulations," he said in a carefully indifferent drawl, "though I still hardly understand what use he could provide you that would warrant such a prolonged search." Noting that Risa had made herself busy admiring and arranging her flowers, Satoshi stood up and stepped out of the room as inconspicuously as possible.

"I grow tired of your shamelessness, Hiwatari-san. Surely you're well aware," he lowered his voice dangerously, "that Dark Mousy is my property – a piece of property that your family foolishly lost."

"Yes, I am well aware that it was your family that commissioned the Black Wings, and our offer to refund you for the failure of the project still stands."

"I'm not looking for a refund, boy."

"Even so, as I've already made clear, the phantom thief no longer exists, and therefore can not possibly be acquired for you," Satoshi snapped.

"My scientists have reason to believe that is incorrect. How you artists can create something without even understanding what it is, is beyond my comprehension. All I need is the wing host, and we shall see just how truly Dark Mousy has ceased to exist, and possibly even the meaning of the second magical being that was seen fighting him."

"That's absurd. Dark Mousy is dead, and the one rumored to have fought with him was likely a figment of the spectators' imaginations." Satoshi was shocked to realize that he was trying to protect Krad. Not only did it make no sense, but the entity known as Krad no longer existed any more than Dark Mousy. Of greater concern was what Gorudo's intentions were for Daisuke. He had the money and political power to do to Daisuke whatever he might suspect would lead him to Dark, and Satoshi had no idea what manner of psychotic experiment Gorudo's men intended for the redhead. Satoshi's one advantage was that Gorudo wasn't aware of his connection to Daisuke or, apparently, of his former status as Krad's wing host.

"Well, you've found him. If you'll excuse me, I'm very busy."

"Now now, Hiwatari-san. Or shall I call you Hikari-san, now? Surely you won't refuse your services in retrieving what your family owes me."

"I work for the law, Gorudo, not against it. If you want to seize an unarmed civilian for no good purpose, dirty your own hands. I have offered you a refund; beyond that, I have no further involvement in the matter."

Eerie laughter clouded the phone line. "You will regret opposing me. You have 24 hours to change your mind. In the meantime, some of my men will be paying our wing host a little visit."

Before Satoshi could react, the connection dropped. He held the phone in front of him and stared at it blankly. He'd believed he was finally free of his family's connections with Gorudo, but it seemed the rich bastard didn't easily let go of things that were owed to him.

The Gorudo family had put up billions to fund the Black Wings project, on the condition that the final product would become their property. The Hikaris were only interested in the act of creation itself, thrilled by the concept of creating a perfect, living, breathing work of art, and so naturally they accepted. Of course, at the moment life was breathed into the Black Wings, the interference of the Niwa family caused a fluke in the process of animation, resulting in Dark and Krad, the former of which had thwarted all efforts to deliver the 'product' to its rightful buyer. Gorudo had poured absurd amounts of money into the Hikaris' mission to capture Dark, and the efforts were not only in vain, but resulted in the death of countless Hikaris as well as many outsiders, including Satoshi's adoptive father, and the near collapse of the Hikari family name. Satoshi wanted nothing more than to extract himself from the mess his ancestors created and live his life as normally as he could, but it seemed there was no time to lament such things at the moment.

"I have to find Daisuke," he murmured to himself darkly as the full weight of the situation dawned on him. He quickly turned and reentered the office, where Risa had given up on her flowers and sat waiting for him by the desk.

"Is anything wrong?" she asked him worriedly, noticing the stiffness in his gait.

"It's nothing serious," he lied, "but I do have to go out for a while." He caught the disappointment in her eyes, annoyed by the guilt it stirred in him. "I'm very sorry. I will somehow make this up to you. Can we have dinner another night?"

Risa nodded, not meeting his eyes, looking off to the bookcase instead.

"I'm sorry," he repeated quietly, grabbing his coat and disappearing out the door without locking it.


	3. Trapped

Phantom Destiny Ch. 3: Trapped

Author note: Sorry for taking so long to get this out! Summer was very hectic, but I should be more prolific now. Thank you for the encouraging and helpful reviews!

"Coming!" called Mrs. Niwa in her cheerful voice as she walked through the kitchen toward the front door. She glanced around the kitchen, which was reminiscent of a battlefield after her son's valiant attempt at preparing dinner for Riku, and grinned, then opened the door casually. "Yes, how can I hel-.. Oh, Satoshi?" she said in confusion as she discovered her son's blue-haired friend standing out of breath on the other side of the door. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing in particular," Satoshi said breathlessly, leaning forward to peer into the door, "Is Daisuke here?" His face wore an expression of grim urgency.

"He went to walk by the fountain in the park with Risa. It's their anniversary, but…are you sure you're alright, dear?" Mrs. Niwa eyed him worriedly.

"Yes, thanks," the young man said distractedly, looking over his shoulder in the direction of the street. "Never mind then," he mumbled before raising his hand in farewell and breaking into a run back to the road.

"Satoshi? You shouldn't disturb them," Mrs. Niwa called out to him, but he didn't look back at her. "What was that all about?" she wondered, turning back inside.

"It's such a beautiful night," Daisuke said, gazing upward as he stood with Riku on the balcony that overlooked the ocean beside the fountain. The faint purple-grey clouds were drifting past the moon, reflecting in both of their eyes as they watched it side by side.

"I love you," Riku said with a slight blush, holding his fingers a bit tighter.

Daisuke turned to her affectionately. With the sky in her eyes and the soft violet glow lighting up the blue dress she was wearing, she was like an angel. "You're beautiful," he said.

Riku smiled. "It's so still and peaceful. Doesn't it remind you of that night after the city was evacuated?"

Daisuke thought for a moment before realizing she was referring to the night the Black Wings had been sealed, two years ago that day, which they'd decided to count as their official anniversary. He tended to think of it in terms of their anniversary alone, and forget the other events that took place that day. "Tonight seems much nicer," he said ambiguously. "That night was pretty rough, even though everyone was alright."

"I don't know if it was that bad. You managed to save the whole city. Hiwatari-kun's dad died, but in the end, that was what marked the beginning of his relationship with Risa. And we've been together this whole time!" She paused. One person was missing from her assessment of that night's events. "Dark never showed up after that, did he?" It was the first time she'd really thought about it. Risa hadn't mentioned him at all since she'd started dating Satoshi.

Daisuke's expression fell slightly. He'd never explained to her exactly what had happened to Dark: that he literally no longer existed, and he didn't want to think about those things tonight, when the mood was so good. "Wherever he is, I'm sure he's fine," he said.

Riku looked at him strangely. "I guess so," she concurred, sensing that he didn't want to talk about it. She had finally started thinking less poorly of the phantom thief, but then he'd left without a trace. On the whole, though, she hardly thought about it, and neither did anyone else, from what she could tell. Things were peaceful again, and that was what was important. She looked over her shoulder as she vaguely thought she heard something moving behind her.

"Is something wrong?" Daisuke asked, following Riku's gaze.

"It's nothing…I just..thought I heard something," she said, still looking into the darkness of the park behind the fountain.

"That's odd," he said.

"Sorry. Let's just relax and enjoy tonight," she said, turning back to Daisuke and running her fingers through his hair, then along his neck and across his chest.

Daisuke looked back at her, forgetting the previous topic entirely as her touch excited him. He gently put his arms around her shoulders and held her against him, then kissed her passionately. She sighed and leaned into his embrace, tracing her fingers along his back and pressing her warm body against his.

"Someone might see us," Daisuke teased, sliding his hands under her shirt and along her bare back.

"No one's here at this hour," Riku smiled in return, slipping a slender hand into the front of his pants and massaging him, causing the redhead to close his eyes and shudder with pleasure.

Daisuke was almost too overwhelmed with sensation to hear when he caught an unmistakable metallic clink from above them. His eyes flashed upward to see a form coming straight down at them. He quickly shoved a very confused Riku away from him with all his strength and tumbled backward himself just in time to miss the armored being that landed right where they'd been standing.

The person was a woman, clad in what looked like black Kevlar armor garnished with steel bracers and plated steel over the major joints. She was clearly aggressive, carrying a large black revolver which she immediately aimed at Daisuke.

"This little pipsqueak is the wing host?" a young woman's voice pondered dismissively from behind a reflective visor that covered her eyes and nose. A long ponytail of golden hair hung down her back.

"Who are you?" Daisuke demanded, looking around for anything he could use as a weapon against this person, though he was too shocked by the situation to think clearly. Why would someone be after him? Did they know about his former relation to Dark?

The armored woman just chuckled, a somewhat cynical and merciless, yet rather attractive voice. "You don't need to know. You just need to come with me, now," she said, still pointing the revolver with an arm that clearly had experience using the weapon.

"Leave him alone!" Riku screamed angrily, not daring to move lest the woman pull the trigger.

"Foolish brat," the woman said, ignoring Riku. "Oh, good. It seems my helpers finally decided to show up." Daisuke looked behind him, where two large men clad in black were stepping out of the shadows. "Seize him, and do something about the girl," she ordered.

Daisuke's eyes widened in panic as one of the men went for Riku and began struggling with her. "No! Daisuke!" she screamed in panic, trying to push them man's hands away as he dragged her off toward the end of the railing that guarded the edge of the cliff overlooking the sea.

"Riku!" Daisuke shouted and broke into a run toward her, ignoring the weapon that was trained on him.

… … … … …

Krad opened his eyes to a wrecked grey landscape, torn apart by explosions and battle. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he had an innate knowledge that he had been involved in most of it.

"Krad!"

He spun toward the deadly-furious voice just in time to see a very badly injured Dark flying at him with a ball of energy ready to launch at the blonde. He raised his hands up, a white feather between his fingers, and sent a beam of white energy slamming into Dark's body. The phantom thief flew back with a cry of rage and pounded into the dusty ground, blood flying from his lips. Krad flew up into the air and sent another beam of energy down into Dark, and another, until the body below him lay still. His hands seemed to raise above his head of their own accord as they gathered energy for the killing blow.

"Krad," a weak, almost lifeless voice came from the back of his consciousness, "Let me back. Haven't you used enough magic?"

Suddenly, instead of Dark's prostrate form, the body of Hiwatari Satoshi materialized below him, covered in scars and bruises and barely able to stand. "K…rad…" the young man choked out weakly before collapsing, taking Dark's place on the mangled turf. A deafening roar drowned out Satoshi's words as the ground, the blood, the sky, all began to shatter and collapse, whirling downward until he was surrounded only by absolute blackness…

Krad's eyes sprung wide with an unsteady breath. The pale, cloudless sky above and the featureless grey earth he'd been lying on greeted him dully as he pushed to a sitting position. He sat still for a moment, staring silently into space and regaining his bearings. Almost immediately, the nausea he'd awoken with gave way to anger. He stood up and materialized a white feather into his hand, disappearing from where he stood.

Dark sat awake, his jaw set firmly as sexual excitement pulsed inside of him. He endured the sensation, trying to think of something else, but he couldn't control the feelings passing from Daisuke's consciousness to his. He glanced up as a sparkling white light heralded that he was about to receive another visit from his blonde counterpart.

"Dark!" growled the man as he materialized in front of Dark. "You damned thief bastard, let me out of here!"

Dark smirked. "You seem particularly cheerful this evening. To what do I owe the honor of two visits in one day," he quipped.

This made Krad look even angrier. "Quit babbling nonsense! Who says it's nighttime, or that it's been a day? Who even cares? Can you even tell how long we've been here?"

Dark frowned, too tired of Krad's behavior to keep up his jokes. "We've been here exactly two years, unless I missed a day," he said matter-of-factly. "Like I've told you before, if you find this place so boring, add some color to the landscape." He clenched his eyes for a moment as the feeling in his body suddenly became more intense; probably, Daisuke was getting more than a kiss from whoever he was with.

Krad just glared, not noticing Dark's reaction. "Don't think for a second I'd create a landscape and please you in the process. I know the game you're playing, and it doesn't work on me. I need to get out of this rotten, colorless world," he said sternly, "I'm starting to see weird things in my sleep."

"Dreams?" the thief prodded teasingly, his interest stirred. "It's quite odd for you to come to me for dream counseling."

"Who says I came for your opinion!" Krad shot back, anger darkening his cheeks.

"Sure, sure, just hurry up and explain it so I can go back to sleep," Dark grinned, leaning back with his arms behind his head.

"I did _not_ come to tell you about my dream!" Krad shouted. "If you're so damned curious, I got to destroy you, and that stubborn brat with the blue hair too…probably."

"And how does this make you _feel?_" Dark mimicked with an accent, clearly teasing, but Krad responded as if he didn't notice he was being laughed at.

"I was thrilled, of course," he spat.

"Sure you were. Then why come whining to me about it?"

"I wanted to assert how very sincerely I detest your existence," Krad said with conviction, wishing the dream had been true.

"Well, from where _I_ see it-.." Dark broke off and looked confused for a moment. The feeling he'd been forcedly repressing in his consciousness had abruptly disappeared, with fear and anger in its place. For it to be strong enough to reach Dark, it had to be considerably intense emotion as well…

"Dark! Don't fall asleep in the middle of your sentence, you bastard!" Krad's bitter voice broke the thief out of his thoughts.

Dark blinked and looked back at Krad blankly. "From where I see it, you miss Satoshi Hiwatari," he said, still trying to figure out what had happened to Daisuke.

Krad's face screwed up in contempt. "Where the _hell_ do you get that theory? That kid never did anything but limit my magical abilities with his pathetically low life force and deliberately impede my plans. If not for him, I'd have killed you and never been locked in this wasteland."

"I'm _so _sorry to hear that. Would you like me to get you a tissue?" Dark teased, "or maybe—_nng!"_

Krad stared at the phantom thief in confusion as Dark suddenly grasped his own shoulder tightly and twisted onto his side with a pained gasp. "What's wrong with you?" Krad demanded.

Dark stared at Krad wide-eyed as another burst of pain exploded near the top of his thigh, while fear and panic that weren't his shoved into his mind. With a choked cry, Dark clenched his eyes and squinted them back open shakily. "Nothing," he hissed.

Krad raised an eyebrow skeptically. "It doesn't look like nothing," he said blandly.

"Quit being so noisy and get lost," Dark countered through clenched teeth.

The blonde eyed him thoughtfully. If he wanted to kill Dark, now was the perfect time. However, Dark was also the only one who knew how to break their seal. But it didn't make sense…there were no enemies here, and no diseases to speak of to cause Dark's behavior.

"Whatever your problem is, you'd better get us out of here, or I'll do much worse," Krad said, disappearing again and leaving Dark alone.

… … … … …

Daisuke lay curled on his side, too paralyzed with pain to move. "Riku," he murmured in a shaking voice as the armored woman's lackey dragged her to the cliff and let her fall into the rocky shallows. The gunshot wounds in his shoulder and leg scalded his senses; he couldn't believe it. None of this was real. He tasted salt in his mouth as shocked tears fell from his eyes.

"_Riku! No!"_ he screamed, struggling to stand up and go to where she'd fallen. _"Riku!"_

"Quit making noise, kid," the woman said casually as she walked toward him, putting away her gun.

"Help her," the boy shot back at her with anger and determination in his eyes. "Help her, and I'll go with you. Whatever you say," he said desperately.

The woman arched her neck back and chuckled slightly. "Help her? From this height, there's no way she could have survived. Besides, you're in no condition to strike bargains," she said almost gently. She leaned down to him and lifted him up beneath the arms, sending pain reeling through the boy as she moved his shoulder.

"Let go!" he snapped, trying without any strength to wrest himself from her grip and go to the balcony.

"I said to be quiet," she snapped, taking a small black case out of her suit.

"What the hell did you do that for? Why Riku? Whatever you want with me…why?" the boy said in a panicked, yet quiet voice.

"Just go to sleep for a while, kid," she said, again in a tone that was ambiguously half-gentle and half-indifferent, and pressed a needle into Daisuke's neck.

"Ri…k…" Daisuke stumbled, catching one more glimpse of where she had last stood before the injected sedative sent him completely under.

… … … … …

Dark sat grimly and leaned forward with one elbow resting on his knees, clenching his arm tightly although he knew it should make no difference. Something was wrong. This pain wasn't just a fall or a scrape…a knife wound? A bullet? It was frustrating, not being able to share Daisuke's thoughts as he once had. And from here, there was nothing he could do to help him. Was he in danger? Was he dying?

A moment later, the sensations in his arm and leg, as well as the misery and fear, ceased completely. "What?" he said to himself, flexing his arm and looking at it. The pain was gone? Or… His eyes revealed a flash of emotion. Was Daisuke dead? The thief tried to stretch out the connection, to find any sign of feeling or sensation from the redhead. The connection was empty. _'Daisuke,'_ he thought, as if he were still capable of mentally communicating with his former wing host. Of course, there was no response. "Daisuke," the thief said out loud. He jumped to his feet, looking up at the infinite grey sky of this prison-like world.

"Daisuke!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, a tremor in his voice as he knew that no one in the universe could hear him.

Krad watched the phantom thief's behavior with an inquisitive frown from a hill a short distance behind Dark's position. He didn't understand what was going on at all, but something was happening with Dark. Was he still thinking about his pathetic wing host? How foolish. After all, it was extremely unlikely that the wing host was thinking about him. Both of them were probably busy enjoying their pleasant little high school lives – certainly not pondering the beings that had resided in their bodies for a short time two years ago. He glared at Dark as a bittersweet feeling captured him for an instant. He rolled his eyes in frustration and plunked down onto the dull ground, watching Dark in irritation. He normally slept as far from the thief as he could manage to teleport, but it didn't seem to be a risk in this situation. Besides, Dark had ordered him away. That alone was the reason he was staying.

After a while, the thief sat down with his back to Krad, unaware of his presence, and remained there for a long time. Eventually, Dark leaned down and lay on his side with one arm under his head and seemed to fall still. Krad observed him dully and somewhat angrily until he finally drifted off as well.

…. ... … … ….

More coming soon!


	4. Hole in the Ice

"No," Dark smirked as Krad's tall form materialized before him in a flash of white light.

"I didn't ask you anything yet," Krad seethed.

"I said, no," Dark reiterated, flicking the feather he'd been twirling between his fingers casually in Krad's direction. It was white. "And try to molt on your own side of the infinite void. I don't want rabies."

"Amusing. If you spent half as much energy breaking this seal as you spend nursing that atrocious wit, it wouldn't be an issue," Krad returned, catching the feather and fashioning it into a knifelike weapon for a moment before returning it to its original shape.

Dark grinned and shook his head, staring off into the distance. He still had no sign of Daisuke. _'Come on, kid,'_ he thought. How long had it been? An hour? Two? It was taking too long.

"You must be feeling lonely today, Krad. It's rare of you to seek out my company so extensively," Dark smirked, looking over from where he was lying at the blonde who was standing next to him with arms crossed. _'Get out of here, just get out of my hair so I can think,'_ he pleaded in his head.

"If you're getting sick, I don't want to miss a second."

"I'm not." Krad thought Dark sounded just slightly different from what he was used to; the suave tone was hollow somehow.

"What was that before, then?" Krad said flatly.

Dark remembered the searing pain in his shoulder and leg. For hours now, he'd been lying awake actually wishing it would return. At least that would mean Daisuke was alive.

"You must be terribly bored." Dark cocked his head at Krad in mock concern. A bolt of white magic flew at him, and he flipped backward on his hands, throwing himself back to his feet safely out of the way. "I've told you, if you need entertainment so badly, wave your little Hikari wand and make it yourself," he commented lazily.

"And I've already said I won't give you the satisfaction."

"Suit yourself," Dark teased condescendingly, careful to keep the disappointment out of his voice as he turned his back on Krad with a shrug.

"Do you really want scenery that badly, crowfeathers? I might be in the mood to create some for your sake." Dark paused where he stood, glancing back at his counterpart with more hope in his eyes than he wanted to show. Krad had never made such an offer before, even if it was a joke. He didn't want his other half to know how desperately he yearned for grass, a sky – anything to take his thoughts away from the dwelling thoughts that kept eating like corkscrews into his mind.

"Well, shall I make it?" Krad demanded.

Dark regarded him suspiciously. "Yes."

Krad raised his arms out to his sides and narrowed his eyes as white power sparked from his fingertips, the feather Dark had handed him anchoring the spell. Slowly, objects began forming around them. They were featureless at first, but the details built up gradually; arms, legs, faces, wounds, tears…

People. Not plants or buildings, but people, all writhing or shuddering in some terrible pain, strewn everywhere on their sides and backs like so many dead roaches. Some of them he recognized; Daisuke lay terribly still with a gash on his chest that bled out onto the dusty ground. Risa crying, holding her retching sister while favoring her own wounds. Everyone aching, crying, suffering, real enough to touch. It was so masterfully done that it took Dark several stunned seconds to remind himself that it was all part of Krad's spell. Not real, but art, if this could be called such a thing. Dark felt his heart race with adrenaline, wanting to escape the reality forming around him. He turned a furious glare on Krad when he managed to rip his eyes away. The other angel was watching his reaction, chin raised slightly in a gesture of self-satisfaction.

"Not funny," Dark hissed, dissipating the half-assed illusions with a swipe of his hand. He was on his feet now, moving in on Krad with fists locked.

"Now now, you don't seem to appreciate my work," Krad said dully. "Don't tell me you still have a soft spot for the wretched creatures that wanted us locked up in this hell."

"It was necessary," countered Dark, the image of Daisuke's suffering still burned into his head.

Krad laughed, low and cynical. "You really think those pathetic creatures cared about you? Do you think they missed you for so much as a second after they locked you away? To them, you and I are a piece of art gone wrong. Some foolish experiment that they had to scrap when it wouldn't serve their purposes. They'll never understand our true beauty, never respect our power. Why the hell don't you see that?"

"You can't honestly tell me that your time on earth brought you no interest at all for the people there," Dark demanded.

"Not in the least, and when I get back there I intend to make sure every one of them pays," Krad scowled, walking to within inches of Dark's drawn fist, daring him to strike.

"Do you think I'm afraid to hit you?" Dark's wings arched upward menacingly.

"Prove me wrong," the white angel returned, his gaze cool as ice.

Dark drew back to punch when he felt a slight flicker in the back of his psyche. Nausea, strong enough to whisk the strength from his knees. It was there for a split moment, then gone again completely. He dropped his fist, eyes becoming distant as he completely unfocused on the person in front of him.

Krad eyed the other angel with blank impatience as he apparently ditzed out. "Dark, get a grip," he ordered.

The ebon-winged angel shook his head dismissively, feeling nauseous. "Daisuke," he breathed, rubbing his neck.

"Daisuke what?" Krad pushed impatiently.

"Something happened to him," Dark answered without thinking, finally composed enough to speak. And it was something bad... the fact that he'd lost his link to the boy could only mean that he'd lost consciousness, or worse. Dark pressed a hand to his head and tried to sort things out.

"You're still linked to your wing host? Impossible," Krad said stiffly and a bit too harshly. Dark glanced at him and the blonde quickly erased the heat from his expression.

'_Was that jealousy?' _Dark contemplated, but shook off the thought. Daisuke was alive, and in danger. And he could do nothing to help him, as long as he was here. But this wasteland was his destiny; he'd accepted that he would have to spend eternity surrounded by grey with his charming other half. As much as he hated to admit it, he and Krad were one essence. Leaving would mean releasing Krad. If only Krad could overcome his bitterness, maybe it could be different, but two years here had left Dark fairly convinced that such a time would never come. Convinced, at least, until now.

"Krad," Dark said, climbing back to his feet, "If you returned to Earth, what would you do there?"

Krad's expression didn't change. "I just told you. I'd take revenge on my wing-host and the rest of the humans that helped you lock me in this hell."

"And then?"

"And then I'd take revenge on you," Krad said with calculated spite.

Dark waved his hand as if tossing aside Krad's answer, growing angry again. "And when you're all done killing and avenging, then what?" he demanded.

Krad blinked as if he'd really never considered that question before. Or maybe he had. "That's my own business," he dismissed.

Dark grimaced and turned away, wariness growing stronger and stronger in his gut. Daisuke's presence was gone again. Who would want to kill Daisuke? Unless it had something to do with the black wings. If it did, it was far bigger than the redhead or any of them could handle themselves. _No._ He shouldn't leave this place. Even if Daisuke was his last and only link to the outside world. The only proof he had that he'd ever been alive. Even though his death would mean that Dark really would be alone.

Dark stared blankly at nothing, waiting for a sign of Daisuke's life to return. Nothing was happening.

"What is it," Krad spat.

"Get out of here," Dark ordered distractedly.

"I'm not going anywhere. For now, I can't get enough of that look on your face."

Dark turned violet eyes on Krad and delivered a swift kick to his chest that sent the blonde staggering. "Out!"

Krad coughed, gripping his sore ribs and raising a vengeful glare at Dark. But Dark didn't even seem to be paying attention to him. He was frowning, looking to the side as if calculating some devastating wager. Did the kid really mean that much to him? How pathetic. He almost could have felt sorry for him, but he didn't. It was perverse, caring about a human. He and Dark were superior to them in every way, yet they dared presume to control them, the immortal incarnation of the Black Wings. He cooled his anger, rose straight and stepped back, getting out of Dark's space. Something different was going on with the dark angel, and he decided to observe quietly to see what became of it. Dark paid no attention to him, looking off with his head raised slightly toward their featureless sky.

Krad didn't have to like Dark to understand what was going through his head as he stared up at the emptiness. Part of him wanted to show Dark what he was capable of, though he wasn't sure why. Just this once, he thought… his eyes grew luminescent, giving off a soft golden glow. Beginning right where Dark was looking, a brilliant blue sparked into existence and washed like fresh paint out over the horizon in every direction. Clouds wisped into it like swirls of mist, white and clear.

It didn't fill the whole sky, just the area above them for several miles, its edges fading back into the gray, but Dark stared at it like it held the keys to his soul, unblinking. A flock of gulls flew across the sky as it faded slowly back to grey, until at last they too disappeared. "Satisfied?" Krad said quietly, the vibrance of the spell still glowing into his speech.

Dark looked back at his counterpart. "That was incredible," he said in a low voice, something that had long starved inside of him making it tremble.

Krad looked away somewhat awkwardly, surprised that it had affected the angel so strongly. Whenever the topic came up, he always shrugged it off so casually; he'd thought it was Dark's idea of teasing him, to suggest he create scenery. Now his counterpart seemed even more stricken by the sight of color than he was.

"Hey, Krad."

The golden eyes faced him expectantly. Dark thought for a moment. There was no way he could expect Krad to agree to help Daisuke, but if they were going to get back to Earth, they would need to work together. Dark possessed the power to alter and create existence – a power he was fairly sure he could channel to break from this plane to Earth's. The problem was materializing in a particular place; a sloppy spell could put them both in space or a mile underground. Krad's visualization would be necessary to make sure they landed in Japan, and to give form to the human bodies Dark created for them there. Despite the length of their lives, neither of them had ever possessed their own form. That would need to change. Dark had to believe he'd have enough strength left after the jump to stick their souls in mortal containers before they got stranded as permanent fixtures in earth's energy field.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I need your help."

Part 5 coming very soon (perhaps tomorrow?) I know this has been in stasis, but I'm off work this week and we'll see where it takes me.


	5. Return

**Part 5: Return**

Krad stood with his wings raised in preparation, watching Dark crossly as the other angel gathered his thoughts. Part of him still thought this was some sort of trick. Dark was actually releasing their seal? His anticipation threaded in and out of his bitter nerves and cinched, balling everything into one highly-strung knot of impatience. Why would he do this now? Why not before? "Ready yet?" he asked the dark angel, who was standing with arms outstretched, and wings arched upward, a soft violet glow wrapping around him.

Dark took a deep breath, the very space around him seeming to pulse with the rise and fall of his chest. When his eyes opened, their intensity actually took Krad by surprise, though he kept the reaction to himself. Dark's eyes literally glowed, seeming unfocused as he turned slowly to Krad. "It's time," he said, the energy around him growing so thick that Krad felt it pressing in around his lungs.

Krad tried not to resist Dark's energy as his own eyes began to glow with power and he let Dark's magic tap into his mind. He visualized the most basic setting he could think of; one that would leave room for error if that imbecile botched the location. He called up the fountain in the park; its sound, its smell of ocean and concrete, the salty breeze and the tastes of suburbia.

The two men stood four feet apart, facing together with arms spread out. Dark looked at Krad earnestly as the grey landscape around them began to fade and warp. He was already too deep in to the spell to spare any focus for speaking.

Krad couldn't believe it. Dark was apparently serious. He had little to do except retain the visual Dark needed to focus, which took little effort for him. The world around them began to twist and blur until they were surrounded with black. They were between planes – he'd never have to see that crappy grey prison again. He looked back at dark to find him surrounded by racing streams of light that circled his arms, legs, and torso. Everything was going according to plan. Above them, stars began taking form, one by one, and then they were joined by a moon – Earth's moon, full and bright. The sound of the fountain began growing in his consciousness, and the warm smell of the ocean. Then the fountain itself appeared next to them, as boring as Krad remembered it.

Dark winced as the finalization of their planar jump sucked out a sudden burst of energy and stunned him like a knife to his gut. He refocused and quickly called up more power to take its place, his bones aching with the effort. This wasn't good; creating their bodies would take at least as much energy as he'd used so far. He was tiring too soon. He couldn't afford to think about it; it was do or die from here on. Bracing himself, he called two shadowy forms into being beside the fountain, their shape and posture resembling the positions he and Krad held now in their spiritual forms. Rushing slightly, he grasped into Krad's thoughts for the images he needed to complete their forms. He found them, Krad feeding the information to him bit by bit through their taut mental link.

Krad released his energy into the spell in chunks he thought the other angel could manage until his body stood before him, so real he could touch it if he were real. Across from him, Dark's eyes were bright and unfocused, consumed in the magic he was weaving . His lean form trembled now with effort. Krad watched Dark's struggle in satisfaction. It served the fool right for imprisoning him this long.

"Krad!" Dark's hoarse voice broke him suddenly out of his thoughts to realize that he'd relaxed too much; he'd left Dark without a focus. He realized in the same thought that he was now looking through real eyes and not those of his mind. He raised his hand up in front of his face and bent each of his fingers – really _his_ fingers. As an afterthought, he remembered Dark was still stuck in the spell. His spirit hovered over his nearly-completed body in front of him like a branch caught in a tide. So, the dark angel had constructed his body first, he thought, surprised. Krad could step out of the spell right now, and Dark would cease to exist. Just to play with him, Krad waited a few more seconds before re-entering the link.

It rejected him. Narrowing his eyes in confusion, he pressed forward again, generating a shower of blue sparks. Dark was losing control. Finally, Krad reached out and physically grasped Dark's shouders, forcing himself headlong back into the spell that now looked more like a battlefield of exploding black-violet landmines. He extended his mind into Dark's, touching his panic as he force-fed the rest of the data through the link in one huge block. If his nemesis wanted to survive the spell, he'd have to do it on his own. Krad was too disgusted to endure the angel's energy any longer, and there was no way he was risking his newfound life for Dark's.

Krad's burst of energy hit Dark like a brick to the stomach, dense and unintelligible. Even at full power, decoding someone else's energy was like writing without ink. He hasn't thought Krad would really try to kill him this soon. Feeling the magic press in on his mental core like a vise, he drew on all the power he had to bind his soul to the body, decoding the strands of energy Krad had thrown at him and hurling them into place. He had to hope the order was right. Gritting his teeth, he dove forward and into his new form, ready or not, sinking into intermediate blackness. If the spell worked, he would awaken in the body before him. If not, he wouldn't wake up.

Krad stretched his wings, arms and legs in one luxurious movement, and finally looked at the body standing in front of him. It was Dark, all right, purple hair and eyes glinting in the evening light. He idly wished he'd altered the data and made him just a bit less beautiful. But there were two things missing; Dark's wings, and the light of consciousness that should have indicated he was alive. Krad tilted his head speculatively. Perhaps he really had killed him.

A ripple of energy coursed down Dark's form, knocking Krad a step back. The violet eyes flared to life, contorting immediately into an expression of agonized shock. A raw cry escaped Dark's throat, strangled with pain, and he collapsed to his knees before crumpling onto his side. Magic convulsed around him, flickering his whole form in and out of existence. He'd gone ahead of the spell, Krad realized – entered the shell before it was complete. Like a computer too overheated to process a sophisticated program, it was still slowly executing Dark's hurried magical instructions. Now he was just stuck waiting for the ride to come to a complete stop.

A huge pair of black wings exploded from his back, wrenching another groan from the dark angel, but they weren't right. The feathers quickly curled and singed, bones cracking as they withered to be joined by another pair, and another, until Dark's back was a mess of wings sprouting and fraying from a single spot, like pine needles curling in a flame. The spell was out of control, sucking more and more strength from its creator in the only way it knew how: by continuously repeating the last command it had been given. Dark screamed in agony and dug his fingers into the pavement, too miserable to appreciate them the way Krad had. Hot pain-tears seeped from his glazed-open eyes.

Krad stared at his dying counterpart, feeling the beginnings of alarm spread like a drug in his system. He couldn't explain why, and didn't want to. Maybe it was only natural, after the two years when Dark's death would have meant being alone in the universe. At the same time, he knew there was nothing he could do to stop Dark's spell, and wasn't sure he would if there was. But it did seem oddly unsatisfying for it all to end like this.

Dark struggled for focus, anger and pain and more anger consuming him. Krad had betrayed him, Daisuke needed him…how could he have been so stupid?? He tried to look up at Krad, and saw only a white blur. Not helping. Watching. Probably smiling. He clenched his eyes shut, not wanting to watch Krad watch him destroy himself. He heard someone screaming, and realized after a moment that it was himself. His back was liquid fire.

"Dark," a firm voice demanded. Dark felt a hand close sharply on his back, felt it rip away the cancerous wings that were sucking out his strength in a quick, firm movement so painful he could have vomited, given the energy. "Get a grip, crowfeathers," the voice ordered, hard and chilled.

Dark groaned hoarsely as he felt the wings tear from his skin. Krad? Shocked back into control, he threw his last shreds of concentration into the spell, grasping its frayed segments and weaving them together again. He couldn't feel if was helping or not, couldn't feel anything anymore. Flawless black wings burst from his shoulders and folded limply to the ground. He opened his eyes just enough to see Earth's moon above him, and then his body fell still.

Krad's slim fingers touched the vein on Dark's neck for a pulse. There was nothing. Seconds passed. He wondered why Dark hadn't warned him more about the procedure, when he must have known how taxing it was. On second thought, Dark probably hadn't wanted Krad to realize how weak he would be coming out of the spell. Still, all plans considered, it would have been smarter to discuss the spell's risks in advance. Then again, he thought as he frowned at the too-still body in front of him, since when did that idiot like to think anything through in advance. What possessed him to suddenly bring them back to Earth?

"Tch. Even dead, you piss me off," he muttered, standing up. He turned decisively and began walking away. The sea air blew through his white coat and buffeted against his skin – _his _skin, but he seemed to have already lost his fascination with his new body. He went about five yards and stopped, standing there like someone who'd forgotten why he'd run up the stairs.

With an exasperated sigh he turned on his heel and strode swiftly back to Dark, kneeling and pressing his vein again almost viciously. Still nothing. He couldn't quite believe it. He stayed and waited, watching Dark's feathers rustle like dead fur in the wind. These were real bodies; there were no wing-hosts to fall back on if their strength ran out. No other planes, no future lives…dead was dead. A faint beat rippled under Krad's fingertips. He narrowed his eyes, not sure if he'd imagined it. Seconds passed before he felt another beat, and the n ext. It was terribly weak, but Dark had a pulse.

"You're like a cockroach," Krad groaned crossly. Still, the dark angel showed no sign of waking any time soon. He reached down and touched the satiny wing that hung like dead weight from Dark's back. It was highly possible that that was exactly what it was, but only time would tell if the angel would be able to fly again.

It seemed too unsatisfying to take him out now. Someone would find him here eventually. For now, Krad had other things on his agenda. He stood up and stretched out his great white wings, feeling them respond perfectly. Dark had done a good job on the body; he had to admit that much. He intended to explore it to his heart's content.

With a few mighty flaps, he rose up and flew off into the night, not entertaining the nagging question of what would happen if the wrong people found Dark's unconscious body. It wasn't his responsibility to protect his enemy. As soon as he was airborne, however, he realized he wasn't sure where to go. He found himself flying low over the water, close enough to touch its rolling surface. His eyes went to a lighthouse overlooking the bay from high on a cliff. That place seemed quiet enough. He would take his time. He would rest, and think. Then the realization of his task could begin.

**- o0o0 O 0o0o -**

Riku woke with a start, her head pounding. She glanced at her surroundings, trying to recall what had happened. With a nauseous gasp she remembered Daisuke being taken away, and being thrown into the statue. Somehow, she'd managed to survive the fall; freshly crumbled rocks on the ground around her indicated she'd collided with the cliff face several times during her descent, and though she could feel the confirmation of her theory in every sore bone in her body, she knew it had saved her life. Something tickled her face and she reached up. Blood was running from the side of her head. Her left foot felt sprained, if not broken, but she could move on it.

Above her, she could faintly make out a steep path leading back up to the park, and dragged herself to her feet. She wanted nothing more than to lie here and rest, but if she stuck around here, whoever had taken Daisuke might come back to finish her. Half walking and half climbing, she made her way up the rocky slope. When the end was almost in sight, her bad foot slipped on a sheer part of the path and she screamed, barely finding a handhold in time to keep from falling. Riku wanted to cry. She didn't know where Daisuke was, and now her leg hurt too much to make it the rest of the way up the face.

She didn't cry. She took a deep breath and tried to think. Living with her more sensitive sister all these years had made her the tough one at times like this. Even with Daisuke, she often felt more like protecting him than seeking protection, probably because he was surprisingly delicate both emotionally and physically. In this case, as always, she felt a keen sense that the only one she could depend on to get out of this was herself. Gritting her teeth, she held close to the wall and waited for the pain in her ankle to dull.

A sharp scream penetrated Dark's mind and brought his dull senses reluctantly back to life. His eyes opened and scanned the ground directly in front of him, giving him his bearings. He was on the ground. His body felt like it had been run over by a bus. Especially his wings, he noted as he moved one of them by accident and his breath hitched. Krad was gone; Dark couldn't sense him anywhere.

He pushed onto his side and sat up, relieved that his aching muscles were at least working. The clatter of rocks crumbling brought his attention back to the sound that originally woke him up. It had come from the direction of the ocean. Dark found it unlikely that someone would be over there in the middle of the night, but he pushed up to his feet and walked unsteadily to the edge of the cliff. There, hanging to the face of the rocks just a few feet below, was the last person he'd expected to see. Risa's sister…why in the world?

"Grab on," he told her, reaching down to her.

Riku looked up at the hand extended to her, and took it firmly with a sigh of relief. "Thank God, you must be an angel," she breathed gratefully as two strong, but clammy hands lifted her up over the edge onto level ground. She teetered forward unsteadily into the stranger's chest as her ankle again refused her weight. The secure arms turned her gently away from the rail, the stranger's body coming safely between her and the menacing cliff.

"Maybe I am," said a voice that was all too familiar. Her eyes flashed up and took in her savior's features. Deep purple reflected off the darkness of his hair and eyes, and shadowy black wings blocked the moonlit water behind him.

Dark.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" she shrieked in alarm, giving the dark angel a sharp shove. She was surprised to feel his weight project easily in the direction she'd pushed him. Dark jolted backward over the rail with a weary gasp, releasing his grip on her hastily as he felt himself falling. He threw out his wings and cried sharply as they caught like sheets in the wind. Suddenly he preferred falling to flying. His unresponsive wings barely even slowed his descent as he tumbled upside down like a crippled bird. He landed on his back with a thud on a flat, grassy crag in the Cliffside several yards down. Squeezing his eyes shut, he twisted to his side and sucked in air, thinking that maybe he should have aimed for the water after all.

Riku stared in shock at the fallen man. It had been a shock to see him at all, but even more confusing that he'd taken her shove so hard. She felt guilty and annoyed; he should have known it would scare her, introducing himself like that.

"Are you okay?" she called warily over the cliff's edge.

"Yes," he answered several seconds later, when he was able to breathe again.

"…Can you get back up?"

"Of course," Dark returned with a hint of agitation, but made no move to do so.

Riku watched him in confusion. Something seemed very wrong about the position of his body and wings on the stone. Even the cockiness in his voice seemed strained, unnatural. He was scaring her. How had he gotten here? "Dark, get up here," she pleaded nervously.

Dark shuddered and forced himself upright again. "Patience, my lady," he said, his voice balancing precariously between arrogance and pain.

He stood and leaned into the cliff face as he pulled himself slowly up to where Riku was and stepped back onto the level pavement. "It's nice to see you again, too," he remarked with a casual smirk, but one look at him told her he was spent.

"Dark…is Daisuke with you?" she asked, the hope filling her suddenly like a flood.

Dark frowned, and met her eyes warily. "No." The tone in his voice was so odd, so full of waiting and dread, that it startled her almost as much as his appearance had.

"Someone came after him. I think she took him away with her," she said.

Dark shook his head to clear his blurring thoughts. It was getting hard to see again. He made it to a bench and sank into it, his wings curling around his shoulders involuntarily as if expecting an assault.

"Dark…what happened to you?" Riku managed to ask, taking a cautious step toward him. She never trusted the dark angel much, mainly because she couldn't explain the way he acted, but he seemed like he was in pain. She couldn't leave him alone if he was hurt.

"A spell just pulled me in a little over my head," he said.

Riku frowned at him curiously. His voice sounded like someone was standing on his chest. "Dark?"

A new set of footsteps sounded softly on the pavement leading to the fountain, their rhythm a nervous jog. "Riku? What are you doing here? Did Daisuke leave you alone on your anniversa-" Risa's voice appeared out of nowhere as she walked up to the fountain, cheerful and bright as always. Her words had dropped off, however, when she saw who her sister was standing next to.

Dark glanced up at her, his burning wings lifting slightly at the sight of her, though she didn't seem pleased to see him. In fact, she suddenly looked like she'd been hit in the face. "Why is he here," she asked quietly. Not to him; to her sister. "Satoshi said he was sealed…"

"That's what I'd like to know," Riku said, looking at him less patiently now that her sister was here. She didn't want them near each other. Not when Risa had finally moved on.

"Such a cold reception!" Dark said casually. I'm not sealed now, am I?"

"Why are you here?" Risa asked again. The tone was harsh for her gentle voice.

Dark was surprised. He hadn't had much choice in the matter of sealing himself. He'd done it to protect them all. He'd thought she would understand that. "I'm here to help Daisuke," he said. Had his effectively being dead been a good thing to them? Why did they seem so hostile? Or was it just his exhaustion? "Well, I hate to ruin your good moods, but I have to be going," he said lightly, standing up. He turned away from their strange expressions and braced himself for flight. He beat his wings powerfully and managed to get off the ground, but a moment later the pain overwhelmed him and he collapsed back onto the cement, stumbling down to his knees.

"Dark!" Risa cried in alarm as she saw the strong angel go down. His wings…something was wrong with his wings. She ran to his side, the mask of disapproval dripping away from her face.

Dark held still, waiting for his head to stop spinning while Risa placed her hand on his shoulder and then ran it slowly to the center of his back. His aching wings arched away from her hands as her fingers reached his shoulderblades, but his eyes shot up and held hers warily, allowing her touch. She frowned as she found his back damp. Dark looked away knowingly as she looked behind him and gasped. His back was drenched in blood. She yanked her hand away and stared at him, her worried eyes begging for an explanation, but not demanding it with words. He relaxed just a little. This was more like the girl he remembered.

"Let's just say I forgot to wear my safety belt on the way here," he said gently, though his eyes still shone with pain. "Or to put it more accurately, I wore it, but it wound up strangling me."

Risa's eyes widened as if she understood this exactly. "Is Krad here?" she breathed.

The angel met her eyes indecisively for a long moment. "He's still sealed," he lied. "I need to find Daisuke."

"Don't worry about that for now. You need a doctor," she said anxiously, moving to rip off her shirt to make a bandage. Dark's ice-cold hand on her arm stopped her.

"You have more important people to take care of," he said, gesturing toward Riku. Risa looked confused, Riku surprised. Only Dark had noticed Riku's injuries.

"I can take care of both of you. Come back with us."

Dark shook his head. God, he wanted to go with them. "I need to find Daisuke," he said. He stood up as steadily as he could manage, making himself walk away. He was aware of every movement, every pain, like watching himself in a slow motion picture, and finally he was out of the park, away from the Harada girls, and into the moonlit city streets.

**- o0o0 O 0o0o -**

More coming ASAP : ) Lots of thanks to Gulogulo and Phoenix of Hell for reviewing, and to everyone watching this story!


	6. The Waiting

**Part Six: The Waiting**

- - O - -

Harsh neon light fell across the cold floor as the mechanized steel door slid aside into the wall. Through it strode men's good black shoes, polished beneath the crisp hem of tailored pants, and behind them a pair of tall boots plated on the toe and shin with molded steel, like armor. The narrowness of the ankle and slight heel were the only exceptions to the boots' masculinity. The shoes clapped an echo through the room while the automated door slid shut with an airtight thud behind them and electric lights flashed on in the room.

A slim figure was now illuminated, lying still on a table in the center of the floor with shirt removed and pants replaced by a ghostly medical smock that matched the quality of his pale complexion. The rest of the room had all the clamminess and cold impersonality of a hospital, or a laboratory, or both; it was vacant of other furniture save for the locked cabinets waiting sternly beneath counters that lined the periphery of the room.

The two figures walked directly to the smocked body, boots stopping respectfully beside their polished companions.

"This is the boy?" said a voice that held all the impatience of a CEO and all the subversive brutality of a mob boss. "Well done, Shira. What's his condition?"

"His wounds were treated the moment he arrived, sir. He should be awake in a few hours, and fit for analysis within a few days." A woman's voice, calm and clear.

"A good deal of research can be accomplished in a 'few days'. I need him awake, not fit for a marathon. Notify me when he regains consciousness, and Trap will begin his study."

"Yes sir." The faintest hesitation, contradicted by the fervor of real loyalty.

The man turned on his heel and left the room without comment, steps echoing on the metallic walls. When he was gone, the woman named Shira turned back to the redhead on the table and eyed him thoughtfully. Compared to his pale skin, his hair almost appeared to be on fire. The boy's breath was shallow but steady, no longer the feverish rush it had been when she arrived with him. Her straight brown hair hung just past her chin, held back off her forehead by a practical black elastic cord. Her eyes were deep brown, small and sharp like those of a ferret.

Her gaze flashed behind her as the door hissed open and another man entered the room, his stance measured and passive. He was tall, wearing a buttoned black shirt and grey business slacks fastened with a textureless black belt. He moved with the air of a man who was fundamentally disinterested by the concept of footwear, much less the selection he'd pulled on that morning. It wasn't that he appeared scruffy; quite the opposite. He was exactly presentable, no more and no less.

"Mr. Gorudo says he's not to be touched until he wakes. Not even by you, Trap," the woman warned him. She seemed displeased by his presence.

"I am well aware. I came to look," he returned flatly, walking up beside her but leaving several feet between them. Trap radiated an invisible barrier of almost sacred personal space. There was no warning posted, but one knew instinctively not to cross inside it. His long, very straight tan hair lay in a sleek tail down his upper back. His profile was handsome, she had noted many times, though his cold expression was unattractive to her more intense personality. They were almost opposites, a serpent and a ferret standing beside each other.

He looked down at Daisuke in calm analysis as if he could see the chemical makeup of the redhead's entire body with his clear gray eyes, hands still at his sides. Only looking. Shira sighed silently. If there was one thing she felt she could judge about Trap, it was that he tended to do exactly what he said. That, and he was a pathetic conversationalist.

"Satisfied?" she demanded.

"Yes," he returned, crossing his arms.

"No matter how brilliant you are, you can't learn anything else by looking at him," she finally said impatiently. "Or are you that eager to evaluate him?" There was real curiosity in her voice. Trap rarely showed personal interest in any of his projects. Others in Gorudo's employ found it intriguing; she saw it as obnoxious.

"Not particularly. Well, then," he excused himself indifferently, turning from her and the boy to pass back through the door. Shira refrained from rolling her eyes, but the sentiment was there. She took a seat at a desk at the edge of the room where Daisuke's vital sensors were feeding graphs across a computer screen. She rested her cheek on a calloused hand and followed the charts dully. Everything was about to happen, but first she would have to wait.

- - O - -

The night was sullen and tired, too late to hold the energy of dusk and too far from dawn for the hope of a new day to rise. Time passed tediously. Cruelly. The effort of walking in the still night air was like swimming through glue. The one thing Dark had to be grateful for was that the hour meant no one was outside on the streets. The rest of the city had logically gone to sleep. Dark's wings dragged slightly on the ground behind him, the muscles sore enough that he preferred this to holding them up.

He'd made it just outside of the park before his energy began to ooze from his body. He had to find Daisuke, but was suddenly all too aware that he had no idea where to look first. He should have asked Riku more questions. He stopped walking and looked behind him. He might still be able to find the girls, but running wasn't an option at the moment. It was only by force of will that he was standing up at all.

Still looking back half-heartedly, he began pushing forward again when a hard force bowled him sideways. Dark braced himself as he and his attacker tumbled onto the sidewalk. Cringing, he grabbed his opponent's shirt collar and threw him sideways, pinning the stranger's weight beneath him, and punched him soundly in the face. His pain-blurred vision barely caught the fist flying at him in return. He drew on his magic to build a shield to block the strike. A shower of purple sparks blew around the angel as the surprisingly weak punch still made it through the shield and caught him in the chest. Dark drew back off his opponent, coughing like he'd been hit with a hammer and not a fist.

But the attacker had stopped, gasping quietly for breath like he'd been running for some time. Dark had been too alarmed to notice that before. "What are you?" said a breathless voice in confusion.

Dark pulled himself together enough to stop choking. It wasn't the stranger's punch that winded him; it was his own attempt to summon magical power he simply didn't have available right now. It felt like he'd squeezed his heart with a vice. He squinted his eyes to see his opponent better, but even if his vision weren't blurred, it was too dark to make out much. "I'm an unsuspecting pedestrian who you just tackled to the sidewalk in the middle of the night; I think I'd like to know what the hell _you_ are first," the angel hissed, adding venom to his voice to hide how thin it had become.

The shadow in front of him shifted slightly and stood. "Look, I don't want trouble. There's no time," the voice demanded impatiently. Dark blinked; he thought he recognized that voice. "What was that light around you just now?" it demanded warily.

Dark frowned; he didn't want to deal with this right now. And why did he know that person's voice? He stepped forward into the dim glow of a lamplight and let the stranger see his winged silhouette. That ought to scare the nosy fool off.

The dark shadow where he knew the stranger was standing was silent enough to make Dark wonder if he was still there at all. And then, tensely, "Dark?...How?" The shadow faltered toward him, light falling onto his face. Blue hair, glasses, grim blue eyes. It was Satoshi Hiwatari. Great. "I-…Is Daisuke with you?" he struggled through his shock.

Dark shook his head dizzily. He was getting tired of being asked that question, and with the exception of Krad, Satoshi was frankly the last person he wanted to deal with at the moment. He pondered how much he'd have to tell the kid about what had happened to get him off his back. Well, he'd figure out the situation one way or the other eventually. "Daisuke's not in the park. He was taken," the angel strained.

Surprisingly, Satoshi did not follow up his question with the expected "Who?" or "Where?" or even the inevitable "How did you get here?" He took a step closer to Dark and stared at him hard, like he was searching to understand something.

"What now?" Dark snapped.

"You smell like blood," Hiwatari said flatly, frowning up at the angel as if there wasn't a half foot's difference in their height.

"Did I punch you that hard?" Dark smirked.

"Shut up. Or do you think making wise cracks will help find Daisuke?"

"I can find the kid myself, without your strategic assistance," Dark countered seriously, exhaustion drowning out any harshness the words could have held.

"How far do you anticipate you can get the way you are now?" Satoshi demanded, "Or do you truly plan to rush in without any plan?"

"Will you write me a pass to the nurse's office, then, former wing host?" the angel prompted sourly with narrowed eyes.

Satoshi reached up and pinched at the bridge of his nose, as if contemplating something he really didn't want to do. But if Dark was available as a potential ally, he needed all the power he could get. "Come with me. I can write you something better than that, if you can bear to incorporate foresight into your strategy," Hiwatari said flatly.

"Oh, can you? Do tell," Dark challenged with a raised eyebrow.

"I can write you a map to Daisuke."

- - O - -

Thanks so much for the reviews, guys! The feedback helps me a lot. People seem to be interested in Krad, so expect more of him next. Akizumi, your review holds a …special place in my heart coughgrincough. -Kat


	7. Morning After Freedom

**Phantom Destiny Part 7: Morning After Freedom**

"Good morning, Jirou," a slender woman with a gentle smile said as she peeked into the room.

"-morning" mumbled a boy's voice that was half-changed from youth to adolescent from the pile of blankets on the bed. "Mom, there's no school today."

"I know, dear, but are you going to stay in bed all day?"

"No," Jirou said with a prickle of impatience. "I have a book to read, and homework for later."

"What about going out with some friends?"

He raised his head up out of the blankets, wispy black-red hair ruffled in every direction. "Not interested. I'm fine here. Really." He looked at his mother with wary black eyes, sensing that she had something up her sleeve.

His mother just smiled and crossed her arms, leaning against the side of the doorway. "Oh, that's too bad. I happen to have this wonderful bunch of tickets for Shrine World, and supposed you and your friends would want them."

Jirou propped up on one arm and considered her for a long moment. She looked back at him expectantly. A grin suddenly grew on his face. "That doesn't sound bad. I'll call people and meet them on the way," he said cheerfully.

His mother's face melted into a relieved smile. "That's the spirit! I'll leave the tickets here, then," she said and left the room.

When the door closed, Jirou flopped back into the bed and sighed, staring up at the ceiling. He'd created constellations out of small glowing stars on the plain surface. Right now they looked like blurry drawings, but he stared at them anyway before rolling onto his side. His hand fumbled across the nightstand, upsetting a stack of dog-eared fantasy novels before locating his glasses. He slid the round lenses over his nose and blinked as the room came into focus. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and walked to the window, parting the blinds with his fingers to squint into the bright morning sun. He let them snap shut again and turned in resignation to the tickets his mom had left in an envelope on his desk. There was a thousand-yen bill tucked behind them. Jirou stared at all the tickets and the money in disbelief. _'How am I supposed to spend all this?'_

**- o0o0 O 0o0o -**

"Step right up and get your tickets ready to ride the Flight of Doom! Step right up…"

Krad stepped to the side as a line of people began collecting near where he stood. This place had been abandoned last night…where did all these humans come from? The place reeked of them. What's more, he couldn't understand what they were doing. As little time as he'd spent in actual human society during the course of his existence, he was still pretty sure that humans used metal disks and paper bills as units of currency. Yet here they were exchanging squares of paper to ride high-speed machines that ultimately, as far as he could tell, brought them to the exact same place they started at. On top of that, they were screaming, which he'd found amusing for a short time until the nonsense of it all just began to irritate him.

Humans….a filthy and absurd species. A species willing to create things without meaning. Little squares of paper. Trains that didn't go anywhere. Him. He had just been a project of whim, like these machines. With a loathsome grin, he supposed he ought to be thankful that the humans had molded him too well. They'd left a loophole in the system, and now he actually could go somewhere. Anywhere he wanted, free from his tracks. Just…

"Hey mister cosplay, what's with the standing around? If you're a mascot character, show us your tricks!" A human child demanded from directly in front of him. Krad looked down at the child with icy gold eyes that could kill in an instant, and the human's curious grin transformed into fear. "Mom?" he called out uneasily, backing away and then running off into the crowd.

Krad watched the retreating child with contempt, feeling eyes on his back. He turned around to see several humans in plush costumes looking over at him from a decorative fountain nearby. Two were dressed as matching anthropomorphic black and white bears, another as a tiger, and a fourth as a Buddhist priestess with black wings. The priestess was looking at his wings in particular, and when she saw that Krad was looking, she took the opportunity to walk over toward him. The animals, minding their respective roles, followed after her.

"Hey, are you new here?"

"Wow, your costume looks great. I'm not sure how it fits in with the Shinto theme, but those wings look real enough to fly!"

Krad frowned and shifted sideways as the tiger moved to touch his left wing.

The priestess giggled and then burst out laughing – an honest, musical sound. Krad looked at her uneasily. "You don't have to be in character in this situation," she explained in a friendly voice. "Though I'm surprised, I didn't think a moody character mascot would do well in a park like this."

_Moody?_ Krad's face iced over as one of the bears slung an arm around his shoulder.

The costumed man didn't even have enough time to think. Krad spun and circled behind him, hooking one foot around his ankle as he shoved forward on the back of his neck. As the man tripped to one knee and doubled over, Krad drew back his other arm, a ball of blue-white energy forming in his palm. He watched the man attentively for any further movement, but he stayed still. The human didn't seem to be a threat. After a moment, Krad lowered his hands and let the magic disperse.

The costumed man straightened up and staggered back beside the priestess girl, fists balled at his sides. "What the hell is with this guy! I was just being friendly," he complained.

"Now Jeromy, not everyone likes to be touched, and that costume looks delicate," the priestess scolded gently, though her eyes were still on Krad. "Those were some interesting special effects, but don't you think you're taking this too far?" she said flatly.

"Whoah, Mommy, look! It's a bad guy…Do you think they're going to fight?"

"You can do it, Priestess Min!"

The actress looked around to find a small crowd watching on from around them. She slapped a hand to her face as if just realizing something. "I see, no wonder he's not conversing with us. Jeez, if you were a villain character, you should've just said so," she said, turning the others away. '_I thought for sure he looked like a hero, though…'_ she thought as she peered back over her shoulder at his beautiful form.

Krad watched them with uncaring eyes until they were out of sight, then turned on his heels and headed in the opposite direction. Those who had gathered around him parted without a word to let him pass through, exchanging whispers.

"That's the first decent villain I've seen in ages!"

"But he's so beautiful…"

"Forget appearances. He's totally got the act down!"

"Shh, he'll hear you."

"Jeez, you guys act as if it's more than some cheesy—"

The words dropped off as Krad passed by the group of teens, his gold eyes flashing over them for just an instant. The angel was well out of earshot before they dared to resume their conversation.

"Haha, Jomy, you totally just got scared!"

"Did not. Come on, let's go ride something."

**- o0o0 O 0o0o -**

The sweet, earthy smell of noodles and broth drifted out into the busy street. Krad paused in front of the noodle shop which, in keeping with the theme of the rest of the park, was made out like a Shinto shrine. All down the street, all the humans were staring at him. _'They think I'm in costume…' _The angel contemplated the large red gate that surrounded the entrance to the shop. The smell from inside made his stomach knot. This was something new to him; He'd always depended on his wing host to obtain energy for him, but now his hunger was his own. Eventually, he was going to have to eat. He folded his wings flat against his back where they wouldn't be touched and walked through the entrance.

A hostess dressed in shrine robes inside politely ushered him toward a corner table. Other patrons looked at him curiously as he passed, everything about him attracting their attention. "A new character? I wonder what his deal is?" someone whispered. Krad crossed the room without meeting anyone's eyes. He sat down and the hostess held out a menu to him. He eyed it without taking it, and after a moment she awkwardly set it down in front of him and moved to another table.

Humans were sitting all around him, chatting and eating. Krad picked up his menu and opened it, feeling uneasy for the first time. He was too close, eating with humans in a place like this, playing by their rules. The very thought of them made him angry enough to destroy this facility in an instant, if he allowed it to. But it was too soon to act rashly; his revenge would be exact and logical, and overwhelming. The humans were mostly going about their business, but intermittently he could feel their eyes on him, and he resented it. _'I am not one of you. I am not wearing some -costume-, you pathetic vermin,' _his thoughts scalded as he read his menu.

"Sir, are you ready to order?" said a waitress from beside him.

Krad looked from her to the menu; he hadn't really thought about it. It didn't really matter – he just had to swallow something, right? He touched his finger to the first option on the page and showed it to her.

"Sir…normally this dish is shared among groups of four or more. Would you prefer an individual version? It's somewhat less expensive," the girl suggested, Krad's unspoken hostility making her nervous.

Krad gave her a long, hostile stare while he inwardly registered the fact that he would, in fact, be expected to procure currency for this food. Or would it be squares of paper?

"O…of course, sir. I'll bring you the full meal," stammered the blushing waitress. She barely remembered to bow before rushing off with his order.

**- o0o0 O 0o0o -**

Jirou pressed farther into the wooden bench he was sitting on. The worn-out wood creaked softly at the pressure, broken in from the thousands who had sat there before him. For some reason, that unsettled him. He was another face in the crowd, another identical parkgoer here to ooh and aah at the false scenery and cheap costumes for a day of meticulously sculpted artificial reality. Why this bothered him and the book in his hand that he'd brought from home didn't, he couldn't say.

He looked across the street, where a pub shaped like a Shinto shrine was bustling with customers. _"Shrine World is sort of like a fantasy theme, so you should love it there! I get worried seeing you off by yourself all the time. Be brave and try it, I promise you'll have fun!"_ Jirou grimaced at his mom's words, suddenly frustrated that he hadn't invited anyone to come with him. For free tickets, some of his classmates would definitely have agreed to come, but he couldn't have fit in even if they did. They were all the same age, around ten years, but Jirou always felt about twelve around the others. Why was he the only one who couldn't get into this stuff? Or maybe he just didn't want to. Maybe he didn't let himself enjoy it because he wanted to be different. Jeez…this was so stupid. He'd messed things up as usual. What had he thought he'd prove by being alone on purpose? If he didn't grow out of this…

Fine. He'd give this dumb park a try. He got up and looked around…

…right into the face of a girl in a plush rabbit suit. "Hello-chu! Are you enjoying the park-chu?" the park character said cheerfully .

Jirou took a nervous step backward, looking down at the ground. "I…uh…was thinking I'd eat something," he said, his face flushing a deep red.

"Why not try our Temple pub?" the bunny said, gesturing toward it with a friendly voice. The actress toned it down a bit after noticing the boy's shyness and took a polite step back.

"Y…yeah," Jirou managed, bowing awkwardly before literally running to the doorway of the pub. He stopped at the door to take a deep breath before making his way inside. There were so many people here. A hostess showed him back to a table in the corner of the room. Jirou followed, looking down the whole time before slinking safely into his booth seat. He felt extremely self-conscious as he focused hard on his menu. Without meaning to, he picked up on the half-whispered conversation at the booth behind him.

"Oh, him? Think he's new. I heard he's one of their villains."

"That's bizarre…no matter how you look at him he seems like a good guy. But why would a mascot be eating with the park guests? He's on the job, right?"

"Shh, he'll hear you."

Jirou raised his eyes up and looked around him to see what they were talking about. He spotted the topic of their conversation about half a second and stared at it curiously. The person was sitting right across from him over the aisle. He wore a white coat with gold trim and a tall collar, and hair as gold as the sun trailed like water down his back and in wisps across his face. His face was handsome but empty of feeling, with cold bronze eyes that sent a chill straight to the boy's bones. Part of him instinctively wanted to get away from this person, now, but he also couldn't stop staring.

But it was just a park character…this wasn't some person from one of his books. Jirou set his expression back to normal and looked at his menu firmly. He had to grow out of this. He wouldn't look any more, no matter how beautiful or fascinating it was. While he set his resolve, a waitress walked past him. She stopped next to the blonde. The boy listened without looking.

"Sir…you've been sitting here for some time. Is there something wrong with your bill?"

"There is. It's more than I have," Krad said dully.

The waitress sighed nervously. "Sir, I tried to warn you that this is a meal for four people." She leaned down and whispered, "I know you're new, so just show me your park ID and we'll take care of it later."

Krad raised an eyebrow at her. "Why would I have such a thing."

The waitress pressed a hand impatiently to her forehead. "Look, you don't have to act here, just show me your employee card."

Krad raised his hand to her throat, rising so that her face was pulled right in front of his. "Mind how you speak, you pathetic hum-"

"Um, sorry, I'm here with him and we decided before that I would pay for him," Jirou squeaked, jumping to his feet before his better judgment could stop him.

Krad released the astonished waitress's throat and she looked at Jirou in disbelief. "Don't be ridiculous, you came in after this man."

"We're at this park together," the boy reiterated, his voice cracking just a little as he pressed his 1,000 yen bill into the girl's hand and met the tall man's eyes carefully.

Krad blinked at the strange child and the silent cue his eyes were giving him. Well, in this situation it didn't seem like a terrible idea. He could stay and kill this annoying woman, but to do so would be inconvenient and of little use.

Jirou stared as the man got up and the movement revealed an enormous pair of white wings that had been folded against his back. When he stood, the tips of the longest feathers almost touched the ground. The man glanced at him briefly before walking out of the room. Jirou threw his bag over his shoulder and ran after him, following the stranger out of the restaurant and down the park path.

Krad walked for some ten minutes before he finally stopped, paused, and turned on the child behind him. "You're following me." The calm words were a warning.

"I," he swallowed firmly, "I paid for your lunch."

"You did. And now you're following me," Krad said with a hiss of impatience.

Jirou felt danger around him like a fever, but couldn't bring himself to give up just yet. "I am."

Krad took another step toward him and leaned forward, his cold eyes almost level with Jirou's. To the boy, it felt like Krad was staring straight through his body. "If you're looking for compensation, you won't get it."

"If you have no money, that's fine. You could still…" the boy said quietly into Krad's face, his tone somewhere oddly between fear and indignation, "come on a ride with me."

"Those trains that don't go anywhere?" the angel demanded in disgust. Jirou nodded.

Krad's gold eyes flashed, annoyed, straight into Jirou's. He stood up and started walking away. A minute later, he looked back again. The boy was still following. How irritating. "You seriously want me to ride one of those _things_," Krad demanded.

Jirou nodded again, nervous hope flickering in his expression.

"Why?" Krad glared, ready to slap the kid out of sheer impatience.

"I have too many tickets," the boy managed to make his voice keep working, showing him his untouched admission booklet. If this was a mascot character, it was the most realistic one he'd ever met. But somehow, he couldn't leave this person alone.

All at once, Krad's hand lashed out and tugged him up violently by the front of his shirt. The angel was suddenly kneeling in front of him with an impatient glare. "One," he spat, "Then, you leave."

**- o0o0 O 0o0o -**

TBC

Thank you for your reviews, and especially to Stormshadow13 for motivating me to finish this chapter! Next chap is underway.


	8. Ticket to Hell

**Part 8 – Ticket to Hell**

"One," the winged stranger spat as he gripped his collar so tight it cut off his breath, "Then, you leave."

Jirou managed not to cough as the angel-like being released his throat. For a second the ferocity of the man's gesture overshadowed what he'd said. The boy had to replay Krad's words in order to register that he'd actually agreed to ride something with him. He stared into the older man's eyes for a long moment before gathering his resolve. If he wussed out now, the encounter would be over.

"Then…that one," he pointed at a coaster labeled "Sacred Dream". It was an indoor coaster that he'd been told was less dramatic than the others because the track was contained in an underground room where the train had to stay at low speeds. He began walking toward the line, and when he looked back, he was surprised to find the park character really following him to the ride. He reached the end of the line and swallowed hard as it began to move forward. Truth be told, he didn't like rides, and he'd never even been on a coaster, but there was no way he could say that now, or else… Why _was_ he doing this, anyway? Clinging to some total stranger that was a far cry from pleasant company… He peered sideways at the gold-haired man, who was making no attempt at conversation.

Luckily, the line was relatively short, but it was still a very strange fifteen minutes while they waited to board. "Thank you for waiting! Please board your cars carefully and lower the restraint consoles over your chests. Due to the enclosed area of the track, please keep your hands inside the coaster throughout the ride. Now, prepare to enter….the Sacred Dream!"

Jirou lowered his restraint bar, which clicked into place across his shoulders and over his chest. He looked over at his companion, who looked about ready to get back off the train, but then sat down after all.

Krad cursed to himself as he sat down in the car next to the child. He arched his wings upward to get the safety feature over his shoulders, though he wasn't impressed by the restraint device. He brought it down, but didn't let it lock shut. No way was he locking himself into some human machine. It was unbelievable as it was that he was even doing this at all.

Jirou glanced up as Krad's wings curled like a giant bow, one free off the side of the car and the other raised over his head like an umbrella. Gosh, they looked so real… "I'm sorry…I forgot you had those. Will they be ok for the ride?" he asked.

"They are not so delicate as that." Krad smirked ever so slightly at the boy's question, and the change in expression won a shy grin from the child.

The boarding floor clicked away, and the train started forward with a jolt. Jirou set his jaw, determined not to scream. With a rush of power, the train quickly picked up speed and rose up in a wide circle through a tunnel. Open holes in the outside wall let them look down on the other visitors to the park as they climbed upward steeply. And then, the train turned left, facing into an enormous, black room. The sunlight behind them seemed to disappear, and suddenly they were in darkness, tilting forward. Gravity took it from there.

Strobe lights blinded them occasionally as they flew straight down, diving into the room. That first dive was bad, but when the train used the momentum to swoop sideways into a series of loops and turns, Jirou was just plain gone. At an amazing twenty-three seconds into the ride, he closed his eyes tight and screamed. When he forced himself to squint them open again, the train was decelerating toward the loading dock and the other passengers were hooting and laughing.

Pale as death, Jirou huddled into his seat and glanced over at the stranger. Krad didn't look amused, but he didn't look frightened either. Bored. He was bored. After all that?

A white feather seesawed down onto his pale knuckles, and Jirou looked down at it. It was a real feather…that must have been an expensive costume. But the odder thing was that it was still warm. He let go of the handlebar long enough to catch the feather in his hand and hold it tightly. A moment later, the restraints released and hissed back into their upward position. Jirou yelped as the train jolted and a loud metallic thud sounded below the platform. The boarding platform that was on its way up suddenly fell back down with a crash. The train began heading forward again.

The passengers all began shouting and struggling to bring their safety devices back down. Krad watched them curiously. So this wasn't part of the ride? The train chugged up along the tunnel again, the windows again showing them what the rest of the park was doing. But they were going much faster this time, like whatever restrained the ride's speed had ceased to operate. When the train arched left and entered the ride chamber, the wheels shrieked against the metal tracks and a groan of steel pulled them fiercely over onto the first drop.

"This isn't right!" Jirou shouted to Krad, who seemed to be calmly observing everything, though Jirou could barely see anything. He gasped as another part of the track flashed much closer to his head than he wanted it to be. He pulled his arms tightly inside and held on for dear life as the train entered another loop – and every thrillseeker's worst nightmare happened. The coaster dislodged from the rails with a thunderous crack. Only the rearmost wheels remained attached as it flung like a whip around the remainder of the loop. The loose end of the train crashed hard against an adjacent segment of track, broke off, and tottered to a precarious standstill, though the passengers were so quiet that it was hard to tell if any of them survived.

Krad and Jirou, as luck had it, were in the rear of the train, which screeched to a halt at the base of the loop and simply hung there like a pendulum, swaying slowly back and forth. Jirou had tears in his eyes now, too frightened to make a sound. Something warm was trickling into his eye from his forehead. He looked to where the winged man was sitting for some kind of support, but when he reached out, no one was there. Oh, god… "Help! My neighbor was thrown out!" he shouted. It was only then that his fear-deafened ears opened up to the screaming of all the other passengers. Everyone was upset…no one was going to help him.

A sharp clang above them made everyone fall silent. The catch on the back wheel, the last thing keeping them from falling to the base of the chamber, was ready to give. "Wait! Everyone stand still!" someone shouted, while others wrestled to get out of their restraints that had now become closer to nooses.

Krad watched the humans from just above the train, floating near a stable section of track. He had to admit that he was surprised the machine had malfunctioned, but then, he was living proof that human creations did not always obey their commands.

"_MASCOT-SAAANN!!!_" The kid's voice echoed through the chamber. "_HANG ON! HELP IS COMING!!_" Krad focused his eyes on the end of the train and spotted the boy. So he was still alive? At the moment, he was facing down into the darkness of the chamber and screaming with his hands around his mouth to…him. The angel sneered. "Worry about your own hide, kid. I'm doing just fine."

With a creak, the train broke through another joint and caught again. Clearly what remained of the machine was going to fall. The kid would fall too. Such a shame.

'_Ride something with me.' _

What a splendid start for his life here on earth.

'_I have too many tickets.'_

All that remained was to sit back and enjoy the show.

'_I paid for your lunch…'_

With a heave, the dangling end of the machine fell loose from the rail and sailed downward into the chasm.

Jirou clenched his eyes tightly, wondering what his classmates would think of his getting killed on a stupid roller coaster. Probably they wouldn't find it terribly interesting. They'd get on well enough. Someone else would sit in his desk. Oh god…final moments weren't supposed to be like this!

The boy opened his eyes as a bright light exploded in front of him. _'God?'_ A sharp crack as his safety bar exploded away from him and he was snared with a painful jerk out of the doomed machine. He closed his eyes again with a wince of disappointment. Heaven wasn't supposed to hurt…was he going the other way? Was this because he didn't give his classmates the extra tickets?"

With a dizzy heave of nausea he finally noticed that he was moving up, not down. The light had faded, but something firm was holding him around his chest and pulling him upward. His hands scrambled for anything he could hold onto. They met with smooth fabric that had heat behind it.

"Mind your hands, or I'll return you to the others," a cold voice said from over his head.

Jirou knew the winged man's voice, but not what was happening until they burst out of the darkness into the light of the tunnel they'd started through. Huge white wings were spread out around him, and his head jerked up to see who was carrying him. The answer made his jaw fall open. How was this possible? But oddly enough, his frantic nerves calmed as if the circumstances of his rescue were nothing to be alarmed about. He was safe and certain in this being's arms, for no reason he could think of.

Jirou's body suddenly fell still and limp on instinct, the way a kitten cooperates when being carried by the scruff of the neck. He briefly entertained the thought that maybe this was all some elaborate stunt, some immersive performance arranged by the park. No, thirty or more people lay dead or injured in the room behind them, crushed in wreckage. Sirens wailed closer and closer outside. Tears suddenly welled up in the boy's eyes. "Oh, god. We have to go back…what if some of them can still be rescued!" he gripped onto Krad's arm as he tried to look behind them.

The boy gasped as the arms holding him released in an instant. He fell a few feet to the floor of the tunnel and tumbled harshly to a stop, cracking his head against the wall of the corridor. Squeezing the back of his neck, he let out a stunned groan and looked up.

Krad stood on the ground several feet away, a cold yellow glare piercing into the boy's chest. "Do not misunderstand, human," he began to scald, but paused. Of course, he had no interest in human life. In fact, the more dead, the merrier. He'd almost been giddy when he realized the fate their foolish machine was racing into, but then at the last second something went wrong and he wound up with this loathsome cargo. Why did he take this human child? The lack of an answer made him mad enough to scream. His logical mind decided against that option, and instead he lifted his wings, eager to fly out of this place and away from the staring child.

Jirou stared at the wings as they moved. He was absolutely fascinated by them. He wanted to see them in motion, but also didn't want the angel to leave. Vaguely aware that something he'd done had upset the strange being, he struggled for something to say. It was so hard to speak to those disregarding eyes. Krad's magic still tingled along his skin like static. He had questions. A lot of them.

But right now he felt like he wouldn't mind if none of them were answered, as long as this strange being didn't leave. _'Don't leave me here. Don't leave me back in reality…'_ Jirou opened his mouth, but closed it again. His pride was catching up to him. Was he insane to care about this stranger's reaction to him so much? Plus, he didn't feel too good. He shook his head to clear it, but that seemed to make things worse. He clung to the image in front of him as his vision began running together. _'Oh, right. I was injured…Where was I--?' _

Jirou's thoughts clouded; he didn't know how hurt he was. Was he dying, or passing out? With a heavy breath, he leaned over on the floor of the tunnel and tried to regain his senses. Krad watched his still form with a passive frown.

Heavy footsteps sounded at the other end of the tunnel. The boy's scruffy hair had fallen into his eyes, his round glasses falling off his nose, but he was still staring up at Krad without blinking. Krad took a half step back as he realized who the boy reminded him of. What was he doing here? He closed his eyes angrily, appalled by what his gut feeling had realized even though his mind refused to acknowledge it. He would not tolerate such a thing. This ended now.

When the rescue team reached the mouth of the tunnel, their flashlights found a bare wall and a floor strewn with feathers and blood.

TBC…

Oh no! A cliffhanger! -cackles with insane glee- Coming up, more Krad and more Dark with…oh dear.

To Determindtowin, Stormshadow13, and Turk – Thank you _so_ much for all your feedback and advice! You keep me going!

To everyone else reading – **thank you!** Don't be a stranger!

Part 9 will be out sooner than you think!


	9. On Villains and Veterinarians

**Part 9 – On Villains and Veterinarians**

**--O-- **

_Squik, squik, squik_.

Satoshi frowned at the bloodspot on his hardwood floor as he rubbed at it, the overpowering scent of ammonia filling his nose. Cleaning seemed like a ridiculous way to spend time right now, but there really wasn't much else he could concentrate on, and anything was better than being in the next room. Grabbing the bottle of cleaner next to him, he squatted over the next stain and worked at it. Damn, that angel sure could bleed a lot.

The sun was finally rising outside, invading through the blinds of his dimly-lit sitting room. He stopped scrubbing for a moment, rubbing blue silk hair out of his face with the back of his wrist before checking his watch. _'He's late,'_ he thought, looking toward the window with a frown.

Abandoning the spot he was working on, Satoshi sank backwards and leaned against the side of his couch. He hung his forearms over his knees and let his head fall back against the armrest, looking at the ceiling of his spacious apartment. He set his gaze and tried not to feel anything, but he didn't want this. Not again. No more angels, no more battles. It had taken him all this time to pull himself psychologically together and regain his sense of purpose and pleasure in life. He wanted to remember that reality, to believe in it. But it meant nothing now. The truth was lying in the next room. It was spattered across his floor and the clothes he'd worn last night. No amount of ammonia would overwhelm it.

At these times, Daisuke always had something banally optimistic to tell him. The logic never convinced him, but there was a certain comfort to the attempt. Three years younger and not yet made cynical by the world, Daisuke was a sort of foundation for Satoshi. He was a reminder that the world could be something more. Satoshi needed that hope. He especially needed it at times like this, when he felt conscious of some immense, unnamed absence in his life. It throbbed to be missing something so badly and not be able to identify it. He knew this wasn't normal. Maybe he'd never be able to think like a normal person. And Daisuke wasn't here to offer advice.

The harsh buzz of the doorbell broke him from his thoughts, and he was a little grateful to have to go get the door. _"About time," _he slid several bolts and locks out of place before opening the door wide.

"Eh? Satoshi, what's wrong? You look upset?" Risa smiled at him curiously. She was holding a large basket in her hands, the kind that the Hiwatari knew would be full of homemade snacks and cutely decorated onigiri. "I know I stopped by without asking, but some stuff happened last night, and I had to get out of the house," she said, her eyes avoiding his nervously. "Since we didn't celebrate our anniversary yesterday, I thought…"

Satoshi resisted the urge to groan; that would only upset her. He was disappointing her again. "Risa…I know I shouldn't have run out last night, but I really don't think now is a good time," he started to say, trying to block the doorway.

Too slow. "Silly, I promise not to get in the way! Just go on doing whatever you had planned, and I'll crochet and keep you company," Risa said cheerfully, ducking under his arm and twirling into the room. She was taking this too well.

"You don't know how to crochet," Satoshi protested.

Risa just reached into a bag that hung under her arm and pulled out a spiral-bound mini-book. "Riku said I should learn, so I'm going to use this!" she proclaimed stubbornly.

Satoshi cringed at the thought of Risa attempting such a thing from a book. This was someone who couldn't even shred cabbage properly. Well, there was probably no way to get her out now. He just had to keep her out of the bedroom, and things would be fine. "Okay, let's relax then," Satoshi said, managing to grin at his girlfriend. His posture relaxed a little. "You always seem to help me do that." He closed the door and walked to her, giving her a light kiss.

Risa blushed, a huge smile coming to her lips.

"What is it?" Satoshi said.

"You don't usually say things like that. It's nice."

Satoshi flushed, remember his cheesy line about the flowers the night before.

"Not like last night!" Risa seemed to read his expression, waving her hands, "More like your own style, instead of Daisuke's. You should be you more often," she grinned.

Satoshi wanted to reject this theory. Sure, his identity confused him constantly, but when he actually had such things to say, he tried to say them if they were important. He just rarely had them. _'Wait,"_ he thought, _'She's my girlfriend. I ought to want to say them all the time.'_ Risa was right, after all. "I'll try to say them more," he said, nudging her over toward the couch. They sat down, and Satoshi looked at his watch again. Could it be he had trouble finding the address?

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked Risa, noticing now that they were this close that she had dark crescents under her eyes.

Risa nodded. "I just had some trouble sleeping last night. I'm fine," she smiled. "Actually…it left me with a bit of a headache."

"I'll get you something," Satoshi said, getting up.

"No, it's ok, I know where to find it myself," Risa said, standing up also. She gave him an assuring smile as she made her way toward the bedroom.

"Wait! Really, I'll get it," Satoshi said, rushing after her and coming between Risa and the doorway just as she reached it.

"It's fine, Satoshi," she said, eyeing him strangely as she brushed his arm aside. The Hiwatari stepped sideways so his body blocked against hers. Risa blushed. "Is there something you don't want me to see in the bedroom?" she said very quietly, hurt and fear shining in her eyes.

A double knock came from the front door. Satoshi glanced at the door and back at Risa. Moments passed in silence, and there was another knock.

"Aren't you going to get that?" Risa said, her gaze challenging him to move out of her way.

Satoshi frowned at her, really not sure what to say. He finally backed up, his chest no longer pressed to hers, and moved around her to get the door before the knocker gave up and left. Risa watched him go, then turned tiredly back to the door and let herself into the bedroom.

She froze just inside, the door clicking shut behind her. There was something she didn't want to see, alright. There was a male form lying deathly still in Satoshi's bed, violet hair spilling over the sheets. The angel lay on his chest with one wing folded between his body and the wall and the other fanned limply over the open side of the bed, its long flight feathers curling slightly where they reached the ground.

"Oh God…" she whispered, walking slowly across the room as she vaguely heard the front door opening. She reached the side of the bed and looked down at the angel. Dark's skin was pale and shining with sweat, lips parted slightly against the pillow. No breath disturbed the hair that rested just in front of his face. His eyes were cracked just barely open, neither blinking nor seeing, although his expression glinted pain. Risa felt something bursting up inside of her, and she had to let it out.

Satoshi and the man he was with turned quickly as a horrified shriek sounded from the bedroom. Satoshi sighed and led the way, throwing open the door to find Risa collapsed on her knees next to the bed, her fingers spread over her wide eyes. Satoshi ran to her and knelt, taking her shuddering form into his arms.

"D….D-dark is dead!" she half screamed into his chest. "Why is he here! Why is he…"

"Shh, he's not dead," Satoshi said, stroking her hair back. "This man is here to help him." Risa sniffed and looked carefully around Satoshi's shoulder at the white-coated man behind him. He had dark brown hair that fell in long bangs next to his green eyes and flattened oval glasses. He didn't look more than 25. "Risa, this is Dr. Hattori."

Dr. Hattori missed his introduction, staring in wonder at what was lying in the bed. "You told me it was a special case, but I've never treated anything like this," he said, eyes wide with fascination.

"A…Are you a doctor?" Risa asked.

"I'm a veterinarian," he answered, straight-faced.

Risa seemed to gather a bit of her composure as she turned to Satoshi skeptically. "You called in a _VET?_"

"He's the only one I know I can trust right now. And who else is going to know what to do with _those?_" Satoshi defended, pointing at the angel's motionless wings. Hattori was chuckling without much modesty at the girl's reaction to him.

"Aren't you too_young_ to be a doctor?" Risa demanded, not taking kindly to being laughed at.

Hattori shrugged. "Guess they'll give anyone a degree these days," he smirked as he set down his kit and began removing tools and supplies. "Anyway, fill me in," he said to Satoshi as he moved to study Dark, deliberately ignoring Risa.

"When I met him last night he was still standing and talking, but he gave out about halfway to my place and I had to practically carry him," Satoshi said, remembering how hard it was to manage the angel's weight. "He said something about his wings being wrong, but I couldn't get him to talk after that. His temperature felt hot, but he suddenly burned it off near 3 am and wound up like you see him now."

"We doctor types normally call that 'dead'," Hattori said dryly as he checked Dark's pulse. "No human could be alive with this heart rate or temperature, but the pulse certainly is there. Breathing is almost nonexistent. The first thing I'm going to do is get an IV going. Does he have any allergies? Is his diet human?"

Satoshi pursed his lips and thought. He'd never seen Krad or Dark eat anything. He'd never known them free of their wing hosts' bodies. This was entirely new territory. "I really don't know. His existence was half magic in the first place; I never knew they could get sick like this." An odd thought struck him. If Dark was here, was Krad somewhere else? Was he experiencing the same thing as Dark? _'No.'_ He definitely didn't want to think about Krad.

"Then we'll experiment," Hattori said lightly, pulling out one of several IV pouches. "If this one flops, he's a goner anyway."

"Aren't veterinarians trained to use special tact in discussing patient prognoses?" demanded Risa, looking a little pale at the vet's phrasing.

"I left my practice to come here at six in the morning, I can be as blunt as I please. Let's take a look at the wings." He reached up and removed a cold, damp towel that had been covering the angel's back and torso. The damage underneath made him click his teeth. "How much blood has he lost?"

"I can't say. He was like that when I found him, and he left a mess the whole way here," Satoshi said. Risa shot a hand to her mouth at the image.

"In birds, any wound on or near the wing is highly susceptible to infection and blood loss. This is no bird, but it's not a human either," Hattori said as he pressed a few key points on Dark's wings. "I see no injury to the wings themselves, but they're not responding at any of the reflexive points. Amazing, the bone seems to join his back here." He pressed along the base of the wing to study the bone structure.

Dark's face abruptly winced to life, pain shooting across his expression as he regained consciousness. The angel tried to see what was going on without using the effort to move. "_Gah_, don't touch them," he warned so weakly that only Risa, who was sitting closest to his head, could make it out. Dark closed his eyes and made his dry throat swallow. "Stop," he breathed as Hattori's thumbs continued to probe his back.

"You're hurting him," Risa shot at the veterinarian.

"I think I've found it," Hattori said, ignoring her. "The disk here is pinching the nerves for his wings. With a little pressure…" He positioned his thumbs over the location and squeezed them together, wrenching a horrible groan from the angel.

Dark sucked in an unsteady breath, smelling blood and antiseptic. He turned his head enough to stare with bleary vision over his shoulder, trying to understand what was happening or why his wings suddenly felt like they were on fire. Before they had ached, but now they were ablaze, as if something that had been left off was turned on again. He wanted to move, and his body wouldn't listen. He didn't know who was around him or what they wanted. All he could think of at that moment was how this pain was his alone. There was no one to bear it with him. No one to share his soul or his body with. There was so much pain…

Dark grimaced and shoved his face down into the pillow to hide what he was going through. He felt fingers gripping his arm and tugged against them angrily with whatever strength he had. "Cut me a break, damnit," he snarled dizzily to the offending hand.

"Dark, it's an IV. You need it," a female voice broke through to him. The words registered.

Dark surrendered and fell still, accepting the needle. Not much choice in the matter, anyway. _'Daisuke!' _ he reached out into the empty mental link just once as he ground his teeth into the pillow. Cool liquid dripped like fire into his parched veins as the IV began to work. Dark focused on that sensation in preference to his wings, barely keeping his head straight through it all. He swallowed and calmed down enough to see who was around him. The Hiwatari boy. Harada Risa? And then the one applying an _extremely_ uncomfortable fizzing ointment to his bloodied shoulderblades was new. "What are you, some kind of doctor?" the angel breathed crossly.

"Actually, I'm a vet," Hattori smirked, giving the stinging salve an extra wipe.

"I'm not going to like you," Dark snarled, his look only winning a teasing smile from the veterinarian.

--O--

To be continued soon!

Muahaha! Coming up next, whatever happened to Daisuke? Violence between Dark and his veterinarian, and Krad goes out…shopping? Also, for those of you who might be wondering, "Where is the romance in this story?" it's coming! Please let me know if there's a specific character you want to see more of. The next chapter may be a little long. I'm having so much fun writing this; thank you VERY MUCH for reading it!

Poisoned Black Rose – I'm so glad you're enjoying it! Thank you for your reviews and support!

Bunny Girl – Thank you, I'm flattered! Haha, I'm terrible at updates also (look and you'll see I started this story in 2005 -hides face in shame-) But I'm trying to speed things up now that I have more time available. Thank you for reading!

Stormshadow13: You rock! I promise I'll get back to Jirou next chapter. Thanks as always.

Determindtowin: Aw, I'm happy your friends like it. You're like my agent or something, haha. If you guys want, pm or review me the parts that were confusing so that I can try to improve them.

Jfbj: I can't pronounce your name!! But please keep reading and thank you for the feedback!

See you soon!


	10. Hidden Wings

Part 10

**Hidden Wings**

The first thing the redhead was conscious of was pain. The awareness came like an invisible weight easing gradually down on him, unnoticed until he was suddenly at the point of breaking. Daisuke carved a shocked breath from his lungs and twisted onto his side, trembling and pale within moments.

The boy winced his eyes open and struggled to understand his surroundings. He saw a pale ceiling, clean counters and bolted cabinets. Focusing on taking deep, shaky breaths, he twisted his gaze to the other side. Cables bound neatly together were feeding into monitors that flickered data in a never-ending frenzy of activity. Daisuke squinted to make out what they were for, but his eyes kept blurring. God, it hurt. He stared anyway, trying to look further up, where his pillow blocked part of the room.

He heard a chair creak, and then footsteps. A fiery-haired woman who appeared to be in her late twenties walked out from his blind spot and came up directly in front of him. Daisuke tried to focus on her clearly as she leaned over him and began fussing with a tube that - he was surprised to notice - was running to his arm. She nudged the needle around, squeezing the tube. Daisuke blearily watched the tube fish around in his skin, feeling no pain and knowing full well that he ought to.

"That's odd," the girl murmured. Her voice sounded like he was hearing it through a tank of water. "You hurting, kid?" she asked, seeming doubtful.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Daisuke asked her, not sounding nearly as intimidating as he wanted to. Big and tough wasn't one of his strong points in the first place.

"I'm Shira, and I suggest ya stay still. With all the drugs we're givin' you, you shouldn't be feeling a thing," she asserted, but cocked her head to the side as Daisuke remained curled over like he was under assault. "For god's sake, what is it, Kid?"

"My back," Daisuke strained to speak calmly, _"What did you do to my back?" _

Shira rolled her eyes, but stayed patient. "Your back is fine. You took one in the side and one in the leg," she said. The boy just squeezed his eyes closed again and groaned tightly. His captor studied his expression, as if giving consideration to his strange reactions. She reached down to the bandage that covered his fresh leg wound and touched it lightly. After watching him a moment, she set her gaze and squeezed down. No reaction from the boy. As she thought, he couldn't possibly be feeling a thing.

"What do you want with me? Did you hurt Riku?" the boy demanded. He seemed to be successfully gathering his thoughts.

"You mean the little girlfriend you were with? She's being kept in a separate facility here. What happens to her depends entirely on your cooperation."

"Cooperation with what!" Daisuke almost screamed over the buzzing in his head.

Shira's lips rose at his frustrated outburst. She trailed a long, calloused finger slowly from the center of his forehead to the tip of his nose. Daisuke just stared at her, annoyed and intrigued at once. "My master wants something only you can give him. Suck it up and get it over with, and we'll have you home safe and sound with your lady friend. First, though, we need you to give us The Black Wings."

"The Black Wings…you know about that?" Daisuke murmured, too surprised to even think of playing dumb.

"Bingo," Shira smirked, crossing her arms. "According to our information, you're the being that houses the Black Wings' spirit. The "Wing Host", as the theory goes. She watched his reactions closely. It was odd how despite all that was happening to him, the boy didn't even seem enraged. Sure, he was upset, but far from threatening. He was almost…polite.

"If that's what you're after, I can't help you. Regardless of the past, I have no relationship with that stuff now. He's permanently sealed."

Shira raised an eyebrow at him, a false kind of interest. "Permanently. You mean destroyed?"

"As far as I'm concerned," Daisuke confirmed, and felt a little relieved as he added, "I have nothing to do with it anymore." His sat up a bit as the throbbing in his back suddenly began to subside.

"If what you say is true, we're going to have a bit of a problem," Shira smirked.

"Why?" Daisuke asked. The obvious question sounded pathetic and he didn't care.

Shira flicked his forehead - a small, amused gesture. Her voice dropped to a sassy whisper. "Because I don't think that argument will impress my _boss._" Daisuke just stared at her like she'd told him to go build an ark. Her expression sobered. "Look, kid, it's not rocket science. Just tell him how to summon the artwork or whatever and you're done."

"Artwork…do you even know what you're talking about?"

It was Shira's turn to look confused.

"Forget it. I'm not giving you any more information until I see Riku safe."

His captor shook her head with an odd laugh. "Get your rest, kid. With that attitude, you're gonna need it."

"Wait!" Daisuke shouted after her as she walked out of the room. "I really can't do it!" The heavy mechanized door sealed behind her, blocking off any further retort. Certain he'd end up on the ground if he tried to stand up, he gradually lay flat again. Dread began sinking into him like tar while he stared at the bleak white ceiling. What was he thinking? He should have denied everything; now they'd never leave him alone. Once again, Dark was throwing his life into a disaster, but despite his growing anger, a prickle of guilt still found him.

He'd sworn not to forget him, but he'd grown to want to, now more than ever. If Dark was still alive somewhere, Daisuke knew his careless oath would live on in the angel's mind regardless of whether it was honored. What harm was that? Sometimes promises served their purpose simply by comforting the other party; they weren't all meant to be kept forever. He had to grow and live in the present, not the past. Dark must know that. The phantom thief wouldn't expect him to live by something he said when he was just a kid. Daisuke cringed, trying to make the logic work. His back was beginning to throb again.

The distinctness of the pain reminded him of how numb the rest of him was. He fumbled for the IV tube and pulled it out, letting the tube drop onto the floor. The blood-tarnished needle wept slow droplets of fluid onto the waxed floor. Let the linoleum go numb. He was done blocking out reality.

**- - O - -**

Risa's head jerked up from where it had been drooping almost down to the tabletop. Her sleep-dulled eyes brought Satoshi into focus across the room.

"Sorry to wake you," he said, closing the bedroom door behind him and walking over to the table. "You really should just lie down for a while. I'm afraid you'll fall out of the chair dozing off like that. The last thing we need is _two_ patients," he said, coming up behind her and cupping his hands around her shoulders.

"I'm okay," she said, shaking her head. "How is…"

"Better. Hattori says he's improving. Strong enough to complain, at least. Apparently that's a good sign."

Risa smiled thinly. "Where _is_ the vet, anyway?" she said. The clock on his microwave blazed 8:46 pm.

"He went out for supplies. If Dark's still stable when he gets back, he's going to take him off the IVs. Do you need something to eat?" he asked after she didn't seem to respond to his words.

"Satoshi…why is he here? Did he do something to make them attack Daisuke? And hurt Riku…" She murmured, looking conflicted.

"I know that's how it looks, but I really don't think so. I'm fairly certain they'd have been attacked either regardless. That still doesn't explain how he got here. We'll need to wait for him to explain that." He dropped into the seat across the table from her, leaning forward and raking thin fingers through his hair. Glancing at Risa's tense posture, he sighed. "You haven't gone back in there since that first time," he inquired. "If you want to go in, you should. Just don't ask him too many questions yet. He needs a new IV about now, and I could use a break," Satoshi muttered, pulling off his glasses to press his thumbs against his eyes.

Risa frowned and looked away. "I'm sorry…Sato, could you do it?" she said quietly.

Satoshi reset his glasses above his nose, the forcefield of calm logic rising back up around him. "Sure. I'll go in a minute," he said, wondering why she was so unwilling to go back in there. "It's not the way it was this morning, you know. He's doing much better. Hattori and I took care of the…mess."

"I really don't want to," she protested, meeting his eyes with an apologetic look.

"If you won't even go in, then why stay here? Your sister's ankle is sprained, right? I'm sure she could use your company, and you'd be able to get some sleep."

"Mom's looking after Riku…She made me promise not to worry about her…so when I go back to her, I want to be able to tell her that Daisuke's safe." Her voice was earnest and sure, but one look was enough to tell: Risa didn't know how to watch her big twin fall apart. She apparently couldn't handle Dark's situation either. Satoshi was noticing a trend.

Both teens turned as the door flung open. "I'm back," Hattori blared cheerfully, strolling into the room with his arms full of groceries. "How's the patient?"

"Steady," Satoshi said, walking over to investigate the supplies. He rummaged through the bags, then peered at Hattori incredulously. "You're going to feed a half-dead paranormal being Hot Pockets and Gatorade?" he demanded.

"Can he not have Gatorade?" Hattori asked coolly, rubbing an idle finger in his ear. He raised his eyebrows at the Hiwatari, who seemed uncertain how to argue. "Then we feed him Gatorade. The hot pockets are for us."

"He's not a sea monkey, you know. We're going to have to feed him a little better than that," Risa piped in.

"Says the lady who hasn't even changed a bandage," Hattori smirked, hefting up a bag and marching on toward Dark's room. Satoshi shook his head and followed.

"Hey!" Risa prodded, giving chase but stopping at the doorway. She took a deep breath, hoping her pride would forgive her if she went back to the table. Count back from five. Two, One…yes. Actually…no. Damn. "I can help too, I was just tired," she announced as she stormed in after the two men with arms crossed. Why was she so scared to look at him?

She forced her eyes to the bed and saw Dark lying on his side, an IV tube running from his arm to a stand next to the bed. His color was better now; she could see warmth under his skin. If not for the IV, he would look just like he was sleeping.

Except that he wasn't sleeping. In fact, he was looking straight at her. Risa bristled, restraining a yelp. "What?" she demanded, trying to read his expression.

"Lose the long face, milady. I'll be fine," he winked at her, though his voice strained to rise above a whisper.

Risa bit her lip, color rising through her face. _He_ was comforting _her_? One second she was too nervous to come in, and now she was fighting back tears.

"I'm taking out the IV cause we're out of bags, so don't croak on me," Hattori hummed bluntly as he removed the taping and needle from Dark's arm.

Risa's eyes looked ready to spill at the word 'croak'. "Seriously, would it kill you to be a little more tactful?" she half sobbed.

"I thought of some other ways to kill him, but that's a good one," Dark applauded, wincing as Hattori ripped a strip of medical tape off his inner arm.

"I'm sorry, you're mistaking me for a professional. But oh, that's right, professionals wouldn't ditch their practice for an entire workday to play doctor with some unconscious bird-man."

"Oh, the veterinarian's making me blush," Dark sneered.

"Shut it before I make you wear a funnel," scolded Hattori, moving to the other side of the bed to check on Dark's bandages. Dark twisted his neck around just enough to keep an eye on the man, keeping the weight off his back.

Risa shook with effort before giving in to laughter. Satoshi bit his tongue, but even he looked amused.

"What?" hissed Hattori and Dark in unison, which only made Risa's condition worse.

Dark looked back at her in the corner of his eye and took a private breath of relief. _'Doesn't seem to hate me,'_ he observed. Her reaction in the park had stung as strongly as his wounds. Crap, his eyes were going blurry again.

"Dark? Are you alright?"

"Dark?"

The angel shook his head dizzily, sinking to the pillow again and fighting to stay conscious. _'No,'_ he begged his body, but it was slipping away from him anyway. "I have to…"

A warm, moist towel pressed to his forehead. "Sleep. Don't fight it," Hattori's voice instructed.

The angel gritted his teeth, not having a whole lot of choice in the matter. With an uneasy breath, his head sank deeper against the pillow, completely out.

Risa's laughter had died. "What's happening? I thought he was doing better…"

"Better is a relative term," Satoshi noted practically, but he was staring as well.

Hattori shook his head, monitoring the pulse in Dark's wrist. "He's anemic and dehydrated. He's got plenty of spunk, but it's going to take some time for his body to catch up. Unfortunately, without the IV, you can't let him sleep like that until he gets some fluid into him. I'm going to head out for now and catch some Z's. Give me a buzz if anything changes, otherwise I'll drop in tomorrow."

"Thanks. I'll walk you out," Satoshi said, moving with Hattori toward the door.

"You – I mean it, don't let him sleep. Get him up and make him drink the Gatorade," he ordered, pointing at Risa as he left the room with Satoshi.

Risa gawked at them as they abandoned her to be alone in the room with the phantom thief. She walked slowly across the hardwood floor and knelt on a rug next to the bed, studying Dark's sleeping form. Sweat was gathering on his forehead. Waking him up was nearly the last thing she could think of wanting to do right now. She reached down into the grocery bag and took out the bottle of Gatorade. There were several straws in the bag as well – the vet had thought this out.

Clutching the orange liquid rigidly, she sat up very straight and called out, "Dark?" No reaction. "Dark," she repeated louder. "Geez," she muttered, reaching out and almost touching his shoulder. She paused there, lips pursed with concentration. She was so uncomfortable around him now. Had there really been a time when she'd casually followed this man like a puppy? _'Well, people change over time. Things change.' _The thought gave her resolve. She took his shoulder firmly and shook him. "Dark! No sleeping, Hattori says you need Gatorade," she announced right above his ear.

Dark's breath hitched. His eyelids rose to reveal still pools of lavender that turned toward her expectantly.

"Y…you're awake now?" Risa said the obvious, looking back over her shoulder instead of into those eyes.

"Where is it?"

The girl blinked, hesitating over the question.

"The Gatorade," Dark clarified wearily. He gathered his arms under his chest and managed to push up and twist into a sitting position. His wings dragged behind him, barely moving enough to rearrange behind his back.

"Are you sure you should be moving around like that?" Risa cautioned, half-reaching for him as if to catch him if he blacked out again.

"It's alright," he assured, fighting off dizziness. He gestured toward the bottle she was holding. Risa handed him the container and he brought the straw to his lips, drinking the strange beverage like he was downing cough syrup. He frowned at nothing across the room as he focused on staying up this time. The level of the drink dropped steadily to about half in a matter of seconds.

"Hey, don't try to drink it all at once!" chided Risa as Dark looked about ready to choke.

As if on cue, the angel jerked his head back and burst out coughing. Risa folded her arms, saying nothing as she waited for him to calm down. He sat still again after a few moments, though his throat went on having spasms. He seemed to be out of energy for actual coughing. He looked at the half-finished drink and moved to put the straw back in his mouth.

"For heaven's sake, don't rush it," Risa said, touching his wrist and pushing the bottle down again.

"There's no time," Dark snapped, his eyes locking onto hers. "I need to find Daisuke." He twitched, dizzy again.

Risa bit back a scolding, curiosity and sympathy overwhelming her impatience. So that was what he was worried about. "Dark, I can understand, but what help can you be to him in that condition?" she asked gently.

Something sparked in the angel's eyes, and Risa knew he didn't like her words. At least he brought the bottle down to his side. He pressed his free hand to his forehead, obscuring her view of his face. "Sorry, guess I'm a little tense."

Risa sighed, her throat feeling dry. "Just lie down, okay?"

When his hand came down again, Dark's expression was under control. He took a breath and smiled half-heartedly. Sleeping again was the last thing he wanted to do. He kept seeing bizarre, violent things in his dreams. About Daisuke, and Krad. And this new body. All things considered, it was nearly impossible to just lie still. His eyes scanned the room and found the television on Satoshi's dresser. "Can you turn that thing on? I'll lie down," he bargained.

Risa really didn't think he should be staying up watching TV, but at least he was cooperating. She grabbed a remote off the nightstand and turned the machine on, flicking through the channels while Dark lay back down. The angel tucked his arm over his head and rested his face on it to make out the screen. Risa's channel hopping finally ended on the news.

"I didn't think you were the type to watch the news."

"Things change," Risa said. Something in her voice put a chill up the angel's back. Dark's first and second fingers fiddled absently with the bandage on his upper back as he watched a dark-haired reporter deliver stock information on the screen.

"And now, another update on a tragedy today at Tokyo's Shrine World theme park. Mikoto, tell us what's happening."

"Well, as you know, disaster struck Shrine World this morning when one of the park's thrill rides dislodged from its track before breaking in half completely and collapsing. The ride, known as the Sacred Dream, is a popular coaster that takes parkgoers through a series of tight loops and turns on a low-speed, indoor track.

"We now have confirmed police reports that a total of twenty-seven passengers were found dead at the scene, with another three miraculously alive but in critical condition. The park's reports indicate that based on the total capacity of the ride, two passengers are still unaccounted for in the rubble. Rescue teams have been on the job all day, but say that so far, there is no sign of the two remaining passengers. With us at Tokyo Memorial Hospital is Makamoto Mizuki, who is here seeking news of her ten-year-old son, Makamoto Jirou. Jirou was supposedly visiting the park today, and has yet to be found. Makamoto-san, any words?"

"I just want to find my boy," whimpered the woman standing beside the reporter, her swollen eyes looking straight at the camera.

The reporter put a comforting arm around the worried mother. "Anyone with information or sightings of the Makamoto boy can report them to the number below," she continued while a school photo of a healthy boy with red-black hair and large round glasses appeared on the screen.

"Looks kind of like the Hiwatari boy," Dark smirked, sipping at his Gatorade.

"The poor thing…I hope they find her son!" Risa said, close to tears.

Dark rolled his eyes. "He's ten years old, and it's only 9:00. He's probably out with friends, and she's just paranoid because it was in the news."

Risa just humphed. "Of course, you couldn't possibly understand a mother's fear."

"I'm sorry, did you say something? I must have been unconscious again," Dark rubbed his pinky in his ear.

Risa groaned under her breath and flipped the station to some banal late-night children's cartoons – something about pre-adolescent girls in leotards fighting crime. "I'm getting tired, so I'll just leave this on for you," she smirked impishly, springing to her feet and curtsying to the wounded angel before leaving the room.

Dark looked at the screen and grimaced, noting that the remote was on the ground halfway across the room. Tonight would be a battle for justice.

**- - O - -**

The air was cooling as it settled like a still blanket over the city. The white angel sat on the rooftop of a lighthouse on the shore, leaning back against the base of the light tower. The last bit of breeze from the sea still drifted through his blonde hair. Beyond the lighthouse, the ocean was glowing with the young moonlight, every softly rippling surface alive with ivory.

The night sea's beauty went by wholly unappreciated by the angel, who was instead staring at a still form laid out in front of him on the roof. He regarded the body with a cold frown that hadn't left his face for most of the day. He'd thought about throwing the human to his death about a thousand times that day, but it was still lying there right where he'd put him that morning. He told himself he was waiting for the kid to wake up before he killed him, to increase the satisfaction. That was the reasoning in his mind when he'd taken the boy from the tunnel. But the kid still hadn't woken or even moved.

A soft groan conveniently answered that thought. Jirou rolled stiffly onto his back and stretched his arms up over his head with a careless yawn. The rough texture of the shingles on his hands made his eyes flicker open. He looked up at the night sky and then over at Krad, staring as he recollected everything that happened. "Hi," he said quietly. He was staring at Krad like he was some sort of God. Krad's glare just chilled through him in response. "Are you going to kill me?"

Krad's expression faltered. The kid's voice was so passive, as if he'd calmly accept it if he said yes. It was irritating. He thought for a long moment. "I am. After I have no further use for you."

"My head hurts, I can't think," Jirou said, curling up and clutching his temples. "Are you real?"

"Of course, fool."

"I think I have a concussion," he said frankly.

"Then you're of no use to me," Krad hissed impatiently, pushing to his feet and towering over the child. He picked Jirou up by the collar and held him at eye level with one arm. A low growl rose from his stomach, which he ignored as he tried to decide what to do with the kid.

Jirou was looking him straight in the eye. He knew he should be scared, but he really didn't feel like he was in danger. He was just being collared by the most interesting person he'd ever met. What did he have to do for this being to let him stay? He tried to think through his headache, his adrenaline lending him courage. "Shrine World is closed at this time of night. If you want to eat in the city, you'll need to hide your wings," he grunted.

Krad scowled. "I will not hide what is mine."

Jirou barely nodded his understanding against Krad's grip. "It's not that simple," he said as if he'd spent half his life thinking about it. "They have a saying in this country, 'The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.' It's easier to keep it to yourself than have it hammered away." He thought of the stacks of fantasy novels stored under his bed, safe from the eyes of his peers. He looked Krad solemnly in the eye. "Show them your wings, and they'll take them away," he murmured, then cringed. A tight whine escaped his throat.

Krad thought he was crying for a second before it occurred to him that he was strangling the kid. He released his grip as if the thought surprised him, and Jirou landed on his rump with a clatter of shingles. The boy groaned and lay back on the hard surface with arms spread at his sides, surrendering to the renewed pounding in his head.

"We will need some ice," Krad sighed, crouching next to the boy.

"We wha-?" Jirou mumbled incoherently as strong fingers closed on his arm and tugged him upward. The angel locked his arms around the boy's chest and those great white wings beat against the still night air. Jirou stared at the rooftop as it dropped into the distance below them. He had to be dreaming. This could never be real, but an impossible joy spread through him like an ache. Even if this was a dream, he'd never let go of this memory, no matter what.

**- - O - -**

To Be Continued!!

This story has passed 2,000 hits! Now I know hit statistics have their issues, but this still means a LOT to me! I am so touched that people are reading and enjoying this, and I hope I can continue to write it well for you guys. I'm super excited about where the story is going over the next several chapters, which should come out fairly quickly as long as I can stay motivated.

I actually drew one of the Dark-Hattori scenes from part 9 and colored it in photoshop, if anyone's interested. It's up at maiysokat-deviantart-com.

Am I being too mean to Dark? –cackles-

**Please don't be shy! Leave a review!**

Shout-outs---

PoisonedBlackRose: Sorry I didn't get to the shopping yet! This seemed like a good stopping point, but it's definitely up next. Thank you for reviewing!

Stormshadow13: Haha, I'm having a lot of fun with Dark vs. Vet too. As for Krad finding out…hmm, I like the way you think –cackles under breath-. Thanks as always for the motivation!

Determinedtowin: Thanks for the recommendations, hopefully there was a good dose of Dark and Daisuke in here.

NightRaven13: Wow, thank you so much! I'm thrilled you're liking it, and I'll try to write fast (hopefully without my hands falling off!)


	11. First Dawn

**Part Eleven - First Dawn**

"There," Jirou said, pointing to an alley between two of the buildings below them. His captor, or savior, or whatever he was merely grunted in approval and descended to the location Jirou specified. The boy's head was spinning and his soul was still flying as he was deposited unceremoniously back on his feet on the shabby concrete. At least he'd been dropped on his feet this time.

Krad flexed his wings and flung them out a few times as if Jirou had contaminated them before folding them neatly against his back. "Well, get on with it. Where is the ice?" Krad crossed his arms.

Jirou shook his head, then thought better of it as stars formed in his vision. "We can get it in a second, but first you need a disguise," he said matter-of-factly. "Just wait here, I'll be right back," he said, his throat going dry as he met the stranger's eyes. He could almost taste the hatred in Krad's expression. "Please don't go anywhere," he pleaded warily, backing away. With that gaze trained on him, it was astonishing that he dreaded leaving the angel as much as he dreaded coming back.

He stepped backwards until he reached the mouth of the alley, then gestured again for Krad to stay, turned, and ran. Around the corner was a thrift shop he passed on the way to school. He ran inside, startling the dozing shopkeeper. Rummaging quickly through the small selection of merchandise, he quickly swiped up a large gray men's coat and brought it to the counter. All he could think of was what if the angel was gone when he got back. What if none of this was real. Murmuring an apology to no one in particular, he pulled out his dad's emergency credit card, paid for the garment and rushed back out. His heart pounded in his throat, harder and harder as he ran for the alley and turned into it.

The man was there, standing crossly in the center of the alley with his wings pulled tightly in to avoid touching anything. Jirou stood perfectly still and listened to his life beat in his chest and brain. Those eyes were ready to kill. Seriously, happily ready. This person would be amused to see him dead; he felt it in his gut. That was rather unsettling. He didn't think Krad would kill him, but he for damn sure wouldn't save him, either. Not a second time. At that moment, Jirou knew it was stupid to enter back into the alley. He set his jaw…

And did it anyway.

"Put this on," Jirou said, holding out the coat as he walked straight up to Krad.

The white angel eyed the garment without touching it. "You expect me to wear this?"

"You can't walk around with those things hanging out," Jirou said, sticking to his guns. "We'll never get ice if you get us arrested first."

"I'm aware of that, you idiot," Krad snapped, lifting the coat and scrutinizing it. The dull gray fabric reflected minimally in the streetlight.

Jirou watched Krad's peculiar reaction, becoming confused. "If you know, then wear it. Or… Don't tell me you hate the _color_ or something?"

Krad's expression flinched strangely, but the reaction didn't last long enough for Jirou to make any sense of it. "It's fine. Let us go," the angel said, throwing the coat on and walking swiftly out of the alley. It hung near his ankles, barely enclosing the long wings that folded tightly along his back.

Ten minutes later, they were inside the grocery store and Jirou was pulling a plastic sack of ice from one of their ice boxes. Casting a sidelong glance at the angel, he turned and made his way toward the checkout counter. The shopkeeper there mumbled a cheerful good evening and began ringing them up. Jirou kept glancing back at the angel to be sure he was there. It was far beyond strange, having a supernatural being bitterly follow him around a supermarket, but his headache discouraged him from thinking about it too hard.

Krad left the store ahead of him, and Jirou had to grab his purchase and run to catch up. Out on the street, he reached Krad's side and trotted slightly to keep up with the angel's stride. When he spotted a bench, however, he stopped following and sat down on it, taking a deep breath.

Krad stopped. The angel glared slowly over his shoulder, pondering the gutsy child. Jirou was fishing a handful of ice out of the bag and cupping it against his forehead. The approach didn't seem very effective. Soon melt-water was dripping through his fingers and down his nose, but it seemed to make the kid happy. Krad rolled his eyes and leaned against a tree planted in the sidewalk behind the bench.

"Hey," Jirou murmured, still melting ice on his head. "Do you have a name?"

"No," Krad groaned in frustration. How many stupid questions was the kid going to ask?

"You've got to have some kind of name," Jirou prodded.

"None that you're worthy to speak."

Jirou opened his eyes enough to look at the angel, wondering what that tone was in his voice. He almost sounded offended, the kind of reaction you got when you flirted with someone who was already taken. Did he have someone like that? The possibility of this stranger having companions or relatives had completely failed to strike him until now. "Who's worthy to speak it, then?" Jirou demanded. Of course he'd seen it coming, but the angel's rejection was a slap anyway.

"No one!" Krad snarled, really angry now, "Not one of you loathsome vermin!"

"But-"

"If you plan to contest me, I will destroy you right now," Krad glowered, his hand rising out toward the boy and forming a fist. Jirou let out a helpless gasp as an unseen force lifted him by his neck off the ground and pressed in on his throat like a vise. He wheezed out a futile protest, staring at Krad in astonished fear. He twisted his head as if to wrench free, causing his owlish glasses to slide down his nose.

Krad watched the boy squirm for a long moment. There was no mistaking it; the kid's hair and figure were just like those of his pathetic former wing host. That being said, a desperate excitement rippled through him as the child writhed in pain before his eyes. "Remember this, boy. Servants are seen and not heard. Your precious human throat means nothing to me, so keep your questions to yourself," he said flatly, and released his spell.

Jirou landed on his feet and managed not to collapse. His body was shaking all over, his head pounding again. This was no game he was playing. This person was not a toy, nor was he a savior. More than likely, he was some kind of monster. And he was absolutely amazing. But only an idiot would admire a villain… Apparently, he was stupider than he'd thought.

"So you expect me to just be your servant," Jirou asked hoarsely, holding his throat with one hand.

"I have no other use for you," Krad confirmed.

The boy stared at him, and at the lamplit streets surrounding them. A policeman had turned the corner and was watching them carefully. If he wanted to make a clean break, now was the time to run for it.

"Fine."

Krad tilted his head at the boy, half expecting something more to come from his lips, but Jirou remained silent. Krad said nothing. He turned and began walking down the road.

Jirou took a deep breath. He picked up the unused ice he'd left on the bench and chucked it harshly into the waste bin as he followed behind the angel. The angry clang haunted the entire street before drowning back into the silent night air.

Krad afforded a faint glance over his shoulder. The boy was following a few paces behind him, and not speaking a word. That was more like it.

The angel walked the city for hours. He'd memorized the streets early on, but still seemed driven to keep walking. He'd only stopped to order Jirou into a late-night store for pre-packaged onigiri – a bizarre selection, coming from someone who acted like a supervillain. His silent and rather exhausted 'servant' studied his behavior discreetly, never falling too far behind. Jirou couldn't see Krad's face, but the angel's movements seemed agitated. He wanted to know what he was thinking about, but then he wanted to know a thousand things. Like why the hell he was still following him when his legs felt like giving out and his head was going on strike.

When the boy could begin to see the orange hues of dawn creeping into the horizon, he finally jogged up in front of the angel and pointed to a hotel they were passing.

"Do I look tired to you?" Krad said.

"Yes."

Krad narrowed his eyes at the boy. Judging by the fact that he didn't feel moved to argue or even expend the energy to strike at the kid, it was possible he was actually right. "Not there," he said, and continued walking past the entrance to the hotel.

"I can't exactly bring you home with me, you know," Jirou said carefully.

Krad didn't respond, and Jirou walked next to him tiredly. Three rejected hotels later, Jirou stopped in front of the last hotel on the block and looked back at the angel expectantly. Krad looked up at the building, numbly reading the red neon sign that stretched up its side. "You stay here," Krad finally said.

"Wha-? Where are you planning to sleep?" Jirou protested. "You can't get a bed without money."

Krad shook his head, not really seeming annoyed, and went on walking.

Jirou prepared himself for anything and began following.

"What?" Krad demanded without breaking pace or looking back.

"I'm not staying behind." Jirou watched Krad's back carefully, thinking he saw the angel take a deep breath, or a sigh. He braced his legs for another long stint of walking.

They'd gone another five minutes down a side street when Krad stopped in place and unfastened his coat. He pulled it off and rested it over his arm, wings stretching skyward as he turned to Jirou. "I cannot sleep in this city," he said, walking toward the boy. Jirou just locked eyes with the Angel until he had to arch his neck up to see his face, not backing away.

"Let's go then," Jirou said. In response, the Angel's arms gripped around him, less harshly than last time, and he held his breath as they rose into the sky. Again, that soaring feeling swept over him.

As he caught an updraft and soared far above the city, heading for the sea, Krad tried not to notice the kid's jubilation. It made him sort of want to drop him. As he reached the edge of the city, where great cliffs dropped down to the ocean, he felt himself relax just a bit, despite his worrisome cargo. Here, the air reeked a bit less of humanity. A human's overnight quarters was about the last place he could think of wanting to sleep. He'd sooner lie on bare rock for the night.

"Hey, it's the park," Jirou murmured as he spotted the long stone walkway and the old marble fountain. Well, not exactly the old one; it had been rebuilt since the earthquakes that damaged the city two years ago. That thought made the boy remember something. "There used to be an opening in that cliff below the fountain. My dad would point it out to me when we went out fishing."

Krad followed the boy's stare to the fountain below them. He knew the park well, as he'd chosen that place for he and Dark's resurrection, but not the cave Jirou spoke of. Tipping his wings into the breeze, he soared in a low arc along the wall of the cliff. Sure enough, there was an area near the water where the rocks flattened inward to a large oval crevice. Krad smirked and landed with the boy at the mouth of the cave. This was excellent.

He looked into the cave and around at the ocean surrounding them, the sunrise slowly budding on the horizon, and couldn't help being awed. Art was in his blood, a fundamental element of his existence as a creation of the Hikari family. He stared at the horizon with sun-gold eyes glazed with feeling, earnestly watching the colors grow. That glorious, unborn sunrise was the first thing he'd longed for other than revenge since he'd claimed this body. He both resented and reveled in the helpless emotion. No longer was he trapped in a world of colorless dust, nor behind the eyes of another. He was alive, for himself alone, breathing, seeing, feeling, alone.

"There are feathers on the ground," the boy spoke from behind him, breaking him of his thoughts.

Krad turned and looked at him blankly, as if he had no idea what could possibly matter besides the horizon right now.

"Look," Jirou clarified, holding up a black feather that was nearly two feet long.

Krad focused on it, then looked down. There were, in fact, several more of the long plumes scattered about the rock. The angel's observation led him to an almost climbable path that led up the cliff. It wouldn't have seemed like a path at all if not for the fact that the soil there seemed recently disturbed, leaving a pile of debris scattered at the edge of the cave's entrance.

The angel frowned at the path. Ignoring the boy's confused stare, he beat his wings and rose up along the cliff's edge, following the path until it reached a flat ledge wide enough to stand on. _Or fall on,_ the angel noted as he came eye level with it. The ledge was scattered with black feathers, more than any single bird could normally shed and far too long to belong to one anyway. Krad's expression fell into a disgruntled frown. What the hell was this? A suicide attempt?

He landed on the slab and knelt to stare at the dried blood that was stained across the rock. He smeared his finger against it, and felt the unmistakable trace of Dark's magic ripple nauseously up his arm. Had Dark gone insane? Or maybe someone found his body, and threw it… He couldn't have been attacked this quickly. Krad peered down into the rocky waters churning at the base of the cliff. _That's not possible…_

"Hey, the sun's coming up," the kid called up to him, drawing Krad's eyes away from the water. He looked up at the horizon, where the sun had risen far enough to make the angel squint. How long had he been standing there?

Krad's wings shot out and he dropped back to the cave level, landing next to Jirou. He walked straight back in the cave, drawing a curious stare from the boy. "Is everything okay? You seemed spaced out…"

"What did I tell you about stupid questions," Krad snarled, stooping down and reclining against the inner wall of the cave.

Jirou bit his tongue and followed Krad inside, sitting down next to him.

"_You_ go on that side," the angel asserted, gesturing toward the opposite part of the cave. The boy stood obediently and moved as instructed. When he was settled, he watched Krad's shadowed form on the other side of the cave.

"Can I at least tell you _my_ name?"

"No."

"It's Jirou."

The boy yelped as a spell grabbed him by the hair and thumped his head soundly against the wall behind him. Krad lowered his glowing hand, the magic dissipating into the cave. "Go. To. Sleep!" Krad slid down to the floor and rolled on his side with his back to the persistent child. His second morning in his new form passed by unnoticed as he closed his eyes and accepted sleep. Jirou rubbed his head and stared at the angel. He knew he'd just acted stupidly, and he was lucky he wasn't hurt worse for it. He had to admit he was exhausted as well. "Goodnight then, 'Master'," he said sourly, crossing his arms and slumping down against the stone wall.

To be continued…

**-oOo-**

Well, there's another chapter! I'm sorry it was just Krad and Jirou this time. Not as much shopping as I originally planned, since I couldn't pull it off without taking Krad out of character, but it was still fun. Poor Jirou is an abused child. I'm very curious to hear what people thought of this chapter - I took a few risks with the pacing and am wondering how it panned out. Next chapter – Dark learns the truth about Daisuke's kidnapping, and Daisuke meets his captors up close and personal.

Notes for reviewers (I was late in adding these in to the chapter, as I finished it just as I was getting out the door for holiday travel, but hopefully you guys will find them):

CelticGoddess09 – I'm glad Jirou's working out! The pairings should be becoming apparent over the next couple of chapters (Finally some romance! I can't wait!) Thanks for reviewing!

Determinedtowin – Hmm, well I'll just allow the Dark torture until your friends convince me otherwise or pillow you in the face –evil laugh- . As my friend says, "The beatings will continue until morale improves." Thank you as always for reading!

Super Goat Girl – Oh, nice to meet you! You and Bunny Girl should let me know what you're writing so I can read it! You're right, Riku and Risa are a bit different, and you may find Daisuke to be that way too. I'll do my best to flesh it out so the change is believable. I felt a lot of the immaturities the characters showed in their 14-15 range (some of which I wasn't fond of) would be things they would change as they matured into adults. Risa especially had a few traits that were sore points for me, such as selfishness and blindness to people's feelings, and it's been interesting to write her older self as someone a bit more emotionally aware. Thank you for the review!

Kaira4248 – Thank you for the support! I'll do my best.

Poisoned Black Rose – On the one hand, I guess Dark doesn't really _deserve _to be tortured. On the other hand… I like the way you think!! –cackles-. Thanks for reviewing as always!

Stormshadow13 – Haha, I'm glad someone got the funnel thing! So happy you're enjoying the vet stuff; he'll be back. Thank you!

More up soon!

_-Kat_


	12. Out of Control

**Part 12 – Out of Control**

Dark opened his eyes drowsily as rays of bright sunlight slipped through the window blinds and tickled his face. Morning already? His brain lazily tested the rest of his nerve endings for a reaction, but his whole body felt blissfully numb, cuddling with gravity. "Not yet," he mumbled, rolling forward comfortably and pressing his face into the nice, warm…carpet?

"Hah?" The angel opened his eyes for real and studied the coarse blue-gray rug he was splayed out on. The television was airing commercials on the other side of the room. _'Guess I didn't make it to the remote,' _he deduced, smirking as he recalled the events of last night. As an afterthought, he pushed up onto one elbow and gave his wings a stretch. He wound up panting face-down on the carpet. _'Yep, still hurt.' _

With a grunt, the dark angel pushed up onto his knees and looked around the room. With the exception of his wings, the rest of his body felt surprisingly good. Beside the bed was a pile of used IV cases and a receptacle for used needles and bandages. The latter was full enough that a few inches of bloody linen showed stuck through the mouth of the container. "Ugh," Dark murmured, glancing from there to his bloodstained sheets. "Quite a mess." He remembered very little of the last 24 hours, but the worst parts had stuck with him, and what his eyes were seeing confirmed that they were no dream.

His stomach interrupted him with a growl, shamelessly decreeing that it was eating time. "Well then," Dark grunted as he pushed up to his feet and stretched his arms overhead. His legs accepted his weight a bit awkwardly, but the angel was able to walk across to the door of the room without fainting or falling over. "Wonder what that Hiwatari kid has in his fridge." He cringed, "Better not be Slim Fast." He opened the door to the joint kitchen and living room area and stepped casually in, ready to rummage through Satoshi's cupboards.

He took a few steps and stopped dead, his eyes catching on the sofa. The Hiwatari kid lay there, Risa Harada's slender form curled against his. Their arms were entwined, and they were both sound asleep. The left side of Risa's shirt collar had slipped down over her shoulder, revealing a smooth patch of almond skin.

'_Not a problem,'_ Dark told himself, fighting the stiffness that had taken hold of his limbs. Why was it suddenly so hard to breathe, like all the air in the room had turned to oil? He turned his attention firmly toward the kitchen and away from the girl's sleeping face. The kitchen consisted of three walls of dark wooden cupboards with a table and chairs set up like an island in the middle. Dark went for the fridge, suddenly craving something warm.

Five minutes later, Satoshi's eyes flickered open at the sound of metallic clicking. Dark was standing in the kitchen in a dark blue apron, stirring something in a bowl. The blue-haired boy blinked firmly, wondering if he was imagining this. The angel glanced back at him, as if sensing that he'd woken. "Oh, Satoshi! How do you like your eggs?" the angel asked, casting him a disarming smile.

"Over hard…" he murmured. Nothing seemed to surprise the kid, not even a dark angel in an apron cooking eggs in his kitchen.

"Oops, they're already scrambled," Dark said without much regret. There was a faint grin on his face.

"Should you really be walking around like that?"

"I'm fit as a fiddle. Had a good night's sleep. Looks like you did, too." Dark's grin grew a bit evil, amused by the fierce blush that spread across Satoshi's face. He clicked on the stove, heating up a frying pan he'd discovered under the sink.

"Don't just invade people's kitchens," Satoshi grumbled coldly, fixing Risa's clothes so that they weren't falling off. Risa made a snorting sound and nuzzled further into Satoshi's armpit, dead to the world.

"Good sleeper, isn't she," Dark chuckled, pouring the bowl of eggs into the pan before grinding salt and pepper onto it.

Satoshi sighed, watching the angel scrupulously as he cooked. Dark's violet hair wasn't sticking up wildly as usual, but hung like silk against his head, streaming behind his ears and cascading around his shoulders. Satoshi knew it was because it was heavy with sweat and oils from Dark's skin after two days without washing, but it still looked like it had been brushed down on purpose. Leave it to Dark to look good even when he was sick. Had the angel really recovered that much in one night?

"I need you to tell me about Daisuke. You said you know where he is," Dark cut into his thoughts.

Satoshi frowned, and the room was silent except for the expectant fizzling of Dark's cooking. How could he explain to Dark what happened? That Daisuke was kidnapped because of his history with Dark? Would the angel interpret Daisuke's kidnapping as his fault? Satoshi himself had thought of it that way more than once. Of course, whether he knew it or not, Gorudo wasn't just after Dark. He was after the Black Wings itself, which meant not only Dark, but his counterpart as well.

"I need you to tell me something first," Satoshi finally said.

Dark stopped what he was doing for a moment, looking back at Satoshi expectantly.

"Where is Krad?"

Dark's gaze hardened at the boy. He did not like the urgency he saw in the Hiwatari's eyes, even if it hadn't made it into his voice. "Why."

"If he's here, it's best we don't underestimate him," Satoshi clarified stiffly. "Is he still sealed? Or is he…"

"Like me?" Dark supplied harshly, tossing his head back to indicate his bloodied wings.

The tone in Dark's voice raised a pang of guilt in Satoshi's gut. What was the angel so upset about? Still, he had to know. He wasn't sure why, but he did. It had been bothering him since he first recognized Dark two nights ago. "Yes. Is he…injured somewhere, in this plane?"

Dark couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could Satoshi be concerned for Krad after all the angel had done to his wing host? Satoshi spoke as if he didn't even recognize his own feelings, but Dark knew exactly what he was seeing. It was the same longing that burned the angel's soul when he thought about Daisuke. The Hiwatari missed Krad.

"Krad remains within the seal. I escaped alone, and nearly paid for it with my life. Krad is not strong enough to follow me," Dark said flatly.

"He's ill, then. Inside the seal," Satoshi pushed carefully, confused by the anger in Dark's voice.

"He's fine! The maniacal bastard is just dandy," Dark hissed, too horrified by Satoshi's worry to control his voice beyond a whisper. He needed to get the kid off this subject. "The eggs are done."

Satoshi gave Dark a puzzled frown, giving up on getting any more information out of him. "Risa," he said, looking down at the girl in his arms. He gave her a little shake. "Risa? Risa, you can't sleep all day…" He glanced at Dark, looking a little frustrated with the girl. _"Risa!"_

"Risa."

The girl's eyes opened immediately at the soft melody of Dark's voice. Dark didn't acknowledge the baffled gaze Satoshi shot at him. "Eggs," he announced casually, holding up the frying pan so she could see.

It took her a minute to register the concept of food and the land of the living, but eventually her eyes widened. "Oh! Yay, not hot pockets!" She clambered drowsily out of the couch and wandered over to stare at the food.

"Hmm," Dark smirked, holding the pan at arm's length away from her, his body blocking her from getting any closer to his hard-cooked food. "I seem to be unusually hungry this morning. I recall expending an especially large effort reaching a certain electrical device last night."

"Eh?! You actually went after it! Are you crazy?" she gasped in guilty horror.

"Good thing I did, too," Dark smirked, amused by her reaction. "If I hadn't passed out, I'd have been stuck watching that god-awful show all evening."

Risa turned paler, if that was possible. "You slept on the floor?"

Dark gave her a satisfied grin. "So, if you want some of these, you'll have to make it up to me," he teased.

The girl nodded sheepishly. "Ok, I owe you one," she said, casting a longing stare at the food. She had been so anxious the day before that she really hadn't eaten at all.

"Okay then," Dark approved, splitting the eggs out onto three plates that he'd set on the table.

Satoshi got up from his place on the couch, fishing his glasses up off the coffee table, and walked toward them. He was confused by Risa and Dark's exchange, but at the same time, he could sort of imagine what had happened. Watching how Risa relaxed and responded so easily to Dark's smooth manner somehow made the Hiwatari a bit jealous. Funny, yesterday he'd been worried because she was afraid of him. He rubbed his sleep-tousled blue hair and sat down at the table, deciding to try and relax also. Picking up a fork, he took a bite of Dark's food and had to admit it was decent. Not a masterpiece, but sufficient.

Risa clapped her hands together over her food as a quick prayer before digging into it. "Mm, these are good," she praised between mouthfuls, paying little attention to the two men as she enjoyed her food.

Dark touched his fork to the fluffy yellow tissue, but looked at Satoshi. "Now, tell me what happened to Daisuke." He put a forkful of food in his mouth and watched the Hiwatari expectantly.

Satoshi pushed his glasses up his nose, something that Risa recognized as a defensive gesture. "The person who had him kidnapped is named Christopher Gorudo. He's an extremely wealthy American-born Japanese. His financial support was instrumental in obtaining the resources I needed to attempt to capture Dark and maintain control of the press. In fact, he not only controls the press, but the police, minor political representatives, and a myriad of other industries that are at his disposal when he calls upon them. I chose Hattori as Dark's physician because he's one of the few in this city I can depend on to keep Dark secret from Gorudo. He's too stubborn to be puppetized."

"So he's rich, and he's got the town under his thumb. Why Daisuke?" Dark said.

Satoshi hesitated. Should he tell Dark the truth? How could he possibly avoid it? Besides his sore conscience, another emotion acted on his mind that he was less proud of. He wasn't fond of Dark. He had no reason to be. Dark was his former enemy, and Risa's former love interest. Aside from his ability to help Daisuke, Satoshi really had little interest in the angel's well-being. He and Daisuke had already had their lives turned upside down by the deeds of their ancestors and the Black Wings' curse. The young Hiwatari couldn't help resenting Dark's role in all of it.

His expression grew very grim and serious, eyes reflecting empty blue against the force of Dark's passionate lavender. "Four hundred years ago, when the Hikari artists undertook the creation of the Black Wings, it was not just for their own artistic amusement. There was someone behind them, with plenty of cash and an invested interest in the final product."

"A commission?" Risa realized in surprise.

"Yes, you can call it that. For an enormous sum of money, the Hikari family set out to create the ultimate living work of art. However, as we know, a thief from the Niwa line disrupted the process of animation, and two beings resulted. They each possessed free thought and beauty, but," he glanced at Dark, "were ultimately defective in light of the original goal. With their powers split in two, they were unable to hold their own forms without another life force to support them. The angels chose the nearest available hosts, a Hikari and the Niwa, and thus the curse of both families began." Satoshi took a deep breath, not at all accustomed to talking this much in the spotlight, but when he caught the impatient look in Dark's eyes, he frowned and went on.

"Well, to say the least, the Gorudo family was displeased that their desired product was not delivered to them. The Hikaris offered a second attempt, but the Gorudos would not invest in their skills a second time. However, they still intended to salvage what did result from their attempt, and provided funding to the Hikari line to assist in Dark's capture. Dozens of Hikaris were killed in the course of their battle with Dark. Some were drained dry by Krad's liberal use of power, and others were destroyed by the Gorudo line for failing to capture Dark. A few, like my father, were driven insane by the immensity of the curse's responsibility. Our family saw to it that Gorudo's line remained ignorant of the fact that not just one, but two angels existed, and over time only the Hikari line retained the true facts surrounding the project.

"The bottom line is this," Satoshi looked pointedly at Dark, "Knowing what I did about your _permanent _sealing inside the Black Wings, I've become the first in my family's history to refuse further effort toward your capture. Without my cooperation, they've taken a different approach. They somehow developed a way to identify Daisuke as your wing host. And his capture is inevitably part of an effort to summon and obtain their property." Seeing an odd emotion creeping into the angel's confused eyes, Satoshi gently clarified, "They want _you_, Dark."

"Satoshi, how can you say something like that," Risa said protectively, but even she sounded uncertain. The story was as new to her as it was to Dark.

The black-winged angel stared at Satoshi, emotions drifting across his eyes too quickly to be made out. He'd come to this realm to protect Daisuke, and now he was learning that he was the entire reason the redhead was in danger in the first place. Maybe it was because of his injuries, but suddenly he didn't know how to address the emotions coursing through him. _'Stay cool. Think cool, there should be a solution for this,'_ he told himself, all too aware that Risa and the Hiwatari kid were staring at him. Gratefully, he felt his logical side click into gear. His mind quickly sorted through the strategies available to him, and he selected the one with the greatest chance of success.

"All right. If anything, this simplifies things," Dark said suddenly, his bold voice earning surprised and curious looks from his two listeners. "They're looking for me. So the first step is to give them me, and arrange for Daisuke's release. We'll worry about the rest after he's safe."

It was Risa's turn to look alarmed. "What? You can't! If that happens, who will be able to save you?" she said almost frantically. "Or are you thinking it's okay to trade your life for Daisuke's?"

"I think it's a good idea," Satoshi cut in on her protest. "Their goal is Dark, and they will never leave Daisuke or his family alone until they've acquired him. A mere rescue will not be enough." He felt guilt pound his chest as he looked from his girlfriend's astonished expression to Dark's unreadable one. Dark had thought of the same plan he had. They had a few things in common, after all.

Risa glared at him. "It's not right to sacrifice one life for another."

"Strictly speaking, Dark is not alive. He's a work of art, and he's bought and paid for."

His girlfriend's eyes widened in shock. "And I suppose if Krad was here, you'd say the same to him!"

Her challenge caught Satoshi entirely off guard. Where did she get the idea that he had even the slightest interest in that sadistic angel? "If he were the one they were after, I'd be more than thrilled to trade his worthless life for my best friend's," he almost shouted.

"So Krad's alive and Dark isn't?" Risa demanded.

"You're missing the point!"

"Oh, really? I was under the impression that the point was too enormous to miss, but you're being such a dummy that I'm having doubts!"

"_Dummy?_" Satoshi echoed skeptically.

Risa cast her boyfriend a get-serious look, wondering how she could possibly damage control this situation. "Dark, don't mind what he says, Satoshi's not great with these kind of things, but he means well," Risa said, looking over at Dark…

…Only to realize that both the phantom thief and his food were no longer at the table with them.

Their eyes flashed simultaneously to the bedroom door, which Dark was on his way through. "I'm hungry, let's finish this later," he threw back at them with a subdued wink, closing the door behind him.

**-oO0Oo-**

Daisuke woke up sitting upright in a customized leather chair that looked more like a torture device than furniture. His wrists and ankles were strapped down with smooth, but reinforced vinyl. His leg hurt, and so did his side, but not as much as they should have. They must have given him more pain killers while he was out. He noticed as he looked down that he was shirtless, with a smock covering his lower body. Small electrode sensors were pinned along his chest in two lines, and more were taped to his neck and forehead. Unlike what he'd seen in books, these sensors had no wires trailing from them. Daisuke knew enough about technology to acknowledge that this was extremely expensive equipment, and that it related to a neural test of some sort.

"Good morning, Daisuke," came a familiar female voice from behind his chair. He frowned and waited for the woman he now knew was called Shira to come around his chair and stand within view.

"You gave me more pain killers. I told you not to," Daisuke said, searching her fiery eyes for answers.

"Not pain killers," Shira chuckled, moving toward some machines the boy hadn't noticed before. There were several monitors there, and a printer that was slowly spooling out readings. "The drugs we gave you placed you in level three sleep. Do you know anything about sleep, Daisuke?"

The redhead closed his eyes, recalling information. He did, as a matter of fact, know a bit about sleep. "Level three, or deep sleep, where your body is closest to death. All primary mental functions shut down to allow the body to heal. You no longer react to outside stimuli, and life signs drop to their lowest possible rates. Are you trying to make me heal faster?"

"Sorry to say, that's only a side effect. My goal was to ensure that you couldn't dream."

Daisuke stared at her, trying to figure out what she was thinking about. "Why?"

"To assure the purity of my readings," she smirked, scanning a page of the readout. "These sensors track cerebral activity, conscious and unconscious. I can follow your higher brain function, emotions, and sensations with this machine. She walked over to him, holding the sheet of paper in front of his face. "As you see, the lines on the lower half of the page are thick and flatlined. These are your five senses, if you will, and your conscious thoughts. And up here, at the very top, you see a very thin line periodically dancing all over the place. Do you know what that pattern represents?

Daisuke stared at the pattern, which at its most intense fluctuations still only took up a mere eighth of an inch of vertical space on the entire readout. At most sections, it was so small that the line could easily be mistaken for flat like the rest of them. It was hard to make out the pattern at all without a magnifying glass. He didn't know. "What?" he asked a little impatiently.

"That's a dream, Daisuke. A very, very weak one. Now, explain to me how we've had you in deep sleep for fourteen hours, and yet you've been dreaming intermittently the whole time?

"I think you didn't put me out far enough," Daisuke said, growing annoyed.

"Believe me, kid, had we given you any more, your heart would've stopped dead. _I_ think, my dear, that these brainwaves are not yours. They belong to the Black Wings. Now the question is, when do you intend to face reality and hand it over to us?"

"I can't! I told you, it's not part of me any more! I'll never transform to the Black Wings again!" Daisuke almost screamed, fed up with everything about this woman and this place. He'd been careful not to mention Dark by name, because Shira didn't seem to know anything about the Black Wings except that it possessed a life force and her master wanted it. The less he seemed to know, the better, but it was beginning to look like they wouldn't give up on making him transform until he died in the process.

'_You psycho idiots, he's gone. He's never coming back, not to me and not to you. And it's a damn good thing, too,'_ he thought bitterly. He wanted nothing to do with these people, and especially not Dark. That part of his life was over. He was free now; it was time for him to have his life all to himself.

Part of him was terrified that they might find some way to bring Dark back into his head. It was a horrible thing to think, but the thought wasn't hurting anyone. Dark was gone, maybe even dead. It had taken him nearly a year to adjust to the loss, to finally stop seeking voices in the back of his head, to stop trying to transform by staring into Riku's eyes. He'd had no one he could tell, no one who would understand. It was like going insane. He'd eventually decided he couldn't obsess over Dark forever. Who could blame him for moving on with his life?

His thoughts were interrupted as a metal gate slid open at the side of the room and a new figure entered the room. Daisuke strained his neck to see the person. It was a man, slim and tall, with a slender face and hair that hung in a neat, straight tail tied at the base of his neck. His eyes were black and inexpressive, and he wore a coal-gray button-up shirt tucked neatly into khaki slacks with a leather belt.

The man walked up to Shira, who stood to meet him. Daisuke thought he detected a certain friction between the two almost immediately. There was something feral and testing in her eyes as she nodded to him and said "Morning, Trap."

"What were the results of your testing," he returned matter-of-factly. There was something snakelike in his manner, disinterested but deadly.

Shira made a visible effort to conceal her irritation at Trap's down-to-business attitude. "No doubt about it, he's the host," she said, thunking a stack of paper into his hand. "Brat's a mite uncooperative, though."

Trap studied the results and then raised his eyes to the woman. "I'll take it from here. You can return to your usual post."

"How do you intend to bring the Black Wings out? Everything I've tried has failed," Shira challenged hotly.

"My instructions come from Christopher Gorudo. Do you wish to challenge them?" Trap said, his chilly voice utterly devoid of feeling.

Shira glared at her colleague. He thought he was so impressive. Well, he had a bit of a right to be cocky, as the most brilliant scientist in the compound and Gorudo's half-brother. She, on the other hand, was merely a bodyguard temporarily performing the duties of a lab tech. Still, it brought a devilish smirk to her face to know that she could deck him easy in a scuffle. "Don't break him, or we'll never get anything from him," she advised, collecting herself to leave the room. "So long, kid. Do yourself a favor and cooperate with Trap here," she warned Daisuke. Her leather boots clicked against the polished floor as she left the room.

When the steel gate clicked shut behind her, Daisuke looked up at this new captor. Trap didn't seem to be paying him any mind, walking over to the machine that was still spitting out readings. He gathered the readings that had accumulated and clapped the pile against the desk to even them. Instead of going through them as Daisuke was expecting, he set them aside and turned off the machine. The printer squeaked to a halt.

"Not going to keep spying on my brainwaves?" Daisuke said testily, his impatience making the quiet boy cheekier than usual.

"The method's potential has been exhausted," Trap said, his voice so level and sincere that Daisuke relaxed a little despite himself. The boy drew his head back a little as Trap approached him and began removing the sensors from his skin. The sensation in his bare chest made Daisuke turn his gaze stiffly to the side to avoid Trap's midnight eyes. The scientist completed his task quickly with no unnecessary movements, and then pulled back to the desk to return the sensors to their container.

"Look, I know you're here because you want the Black Wings, but I really can't transform. I have no way to give it to you. I just want to know if my girlfriend's safe," Daisuke told him wearily.

"I believe you," Trap said, pressing a button on the computer.

"You do?" Daisuke flinched as the bonds on his wrists and ankles released with a mechanical hiss. He stretched his wrists carefully, staring at Trap.

"You may not remember how to transform, but there is no doubt," he thunked his hand down on the huge stack of brainwave readouts, "that you are still host to the Black Wings. Or, should I say Dark Mousy?"

Daisuke frowned, unable to keep the uncertainty out of his features. "You really think those results mean he's still inside of me?"

Trap pulled a plain white scrub shirt off a hook on the wall and threw it to Daisuke. "That's one possibility. The other is that he exists somewhere else, and has somehow retained a psychic link with you from outside your body. Or existed."

"Existed?"

Trap frowned, as if perturbed that he really had to explain everything. "When an astronomer witnesses the death of a star in his telescope, he is not seeing something that occurred at that moment. By the time the light reaches his lens, the star may have been dead for hundreds, even thousands of years. Our species knows very little about the phenomenon of thought. If the being known as Dark has spent time on another plane, his existence may have already ended in a different time continuum, but still be playing in your own subconscious."

The thought of Dark's brain patterns living on in him after the angel's death made Daisuke suddenly turn pale. Could Trap be right? After all, he knew almost nothing about how his bond with Dark actually worked. He suddenly wanted to know. He had to know the truth about what was happening. He thought about it hard and pulled the loose shirt over his head, wincing as he stretched his wounded side. If there was any chance that Dark could be brought back to this realm, the effort of accepting Dark's absence would be wasted, and Daisuke might never be able to rest peacefully. He hated to admit it, but if his kidnappers released him now, he'd regret it.

"I have no reason to trust you people. But if you can show me the truth about whether Dark's truly gone, I'll cooperate."

"You want proof that he no longer exists that badly?"

Daisuke clenched his fists, his resolve gathering. "Yes."

Trap observed him coolly. "You do realize that I'm here to _revive_ Dark, by any means possible. There's no one in the world more equipped to accomplish it."

"Then if you fail, at least I'll be sure," Daisuke met his gaze evenly.

Trap considered the teen, taking his time to think under Daisuke's tense stare. "Well, then, wing host, I look forward to your help," he said, his voice almost friendly. He extended a lean hand to the boy.

"My name's Niwa Daisuke," the boy clarified, returning the shake without relish.

"Very well, Niwa-san," the man said, his chilled black eyes impossible to read, "Let's get started."

TBC

**-oO0Oo-**

**Next chapter – Krad grudgingly attends an art festival, where an unexpected disaster changes everything. Will he meet his former wing host at exactly the wrong moment?**

If you reviewed last chapter but didn't see my response, that's because I ran out of time and only just put them up now! They're there in part 11 if you want to see.

Falsetto54 – Thank you for reviewing! The decision on whether to include outside characters is always important, and I appreciate your opinion. I personally feel that using them with the right balance adds new excitement to the existing characters and helps increase the options for drama and plot available to the author of the fanfic. There are several OC's in this story, but as it continues, I think you'll find that the DN Angel characters are safely still the main event, and the OC's help to develop them later.

To my friendly ghosts – Thank you for reading!! If you have a few seconds, I'd love to know what you think so far.


	13. Feather in the Wind Part 1

**Chapter 13**

**Feather in the Wind – Part 1**

Satoshi glanced up from his newspaper as the door clicked open.

"Hiya," Risa said, holding a bag of groceries to her chest as she came in. "I thought maybe you hadn't eaten."

The boy fought off a rebuttal. It was true, he hadn't bothered. Risa was always worrying over his diet, but for the last few days, since Dark arrived, it had been worse. "How is Riku?"

"Not bad," Risa said, setting the bag on the counter and removing some cans and vegetables from it. "The doctor said she could begin walking on crutches tomorrow." Turning, she pulled a cutting board out from the cupboard and began fishing around for a knife.

"I'm really not hungry," he said tensely.

Risa stopped her rummaging and looked at him, displeased but unsurprised. "You seem so impatient lately…you have to eat, or you'll only get weaker."

"I will be _fine_," the Hiwatari returned suddenly. Fiercely. His eyes immediately flashed with guilt, but managed not to look away.

Risa's expression changed at his words, but she too didn't look away. She held his eyes and searched them, as if trying to understand. Something had changed since that conversation with Dark three days ago. Something between him and her.

'_Strictly speaking, Dark is not alive. He's a work of art, and he's bought and paid for.'_

Had Satoshi actually said that? Had he really told Dark that Daisuke's capture was his fault? Somehow, she couldn't quite forgive him for what he'd said. It was like she was suddenly faced with how little she actually knew about him, and she didn't like what she was seeing. Sure, Satoshi was a little distant at times, but she'd never seen him be cruel. Now, staring into his cool blue eyes, she could sense a shred of animosity – something screaming to be left alone. Left alone to what? Starve himself to death? She gathered her strength and did the only thing she could do. She pretended not to notice. "Where's Dark?" she asked, looking around.

"The bedroom," Satoshi said flatly.

Risa waited a moment to see if he would say more, but he didn't. She looked across the room at the open bedroom door.

"It's strange. The door's open, and it's my own room, but I can't go in and speak to him. It's an invisible fence I can't cross." Satoshi's quiet voice made Risa look at him again.

"You still haven't spoken with him?" Risa asked gently.

"We spent hours discussing planning for the rescue."

"I didn't mean that kind of speaking," Risa crossed her arms.

Satoshi fought back his annoyance. "I wasn't wrong. What I said was true, I just…didn't say it correctly."

Risa sighed. "There's no such thing as a right way to say those things," she said, firm and quiet. Here he was, the first time he'd spoken to her about that incident. She thought he'd been about to express the guilt she knew he felt, but instead he'd backed out. She shook her head and remembered to be understanding. Satoshi was not the smoothest with apologies. But it had been three days. "How's his health?"

"Miraculously good, but not good enough to help Daisuke. Hattori's convinced him not to do anything until he can fly again. The only plan with any hope of success depends on it.

In the next room, Dark sat cross-legged on the edge of the bed. He'd just finished eating something simple he'd prepared for himself, and was now drumming a terse rhythm with his chopsticks on the glass plate. He looked out the window at the waning afternoon sunlight, overhearing the conversation in the next room. God, they sure knew how to make a fuss. The angel looked at the doorway, a thoughtful grin forming on his face. The expression evaporated quickly. "Well, time's a-wastin'."

He put the plate aside and hopped off the bed, crossing the room to the mirror. Standing with his back to the pane, he looked over his bare shoulder at the marred skin between his wings. Three days, and it was already just a dark, ragged scar. _'Not exactly human,'_ he thought, noting the obvious. But he wasn't just some hexed statue, either. So he was created by artists, conceived from stone and ritual rather than flesh and seed. It was old news, and the last thing he could afford to worry about at the moment. Far from it; the angel was full of anticipation.

He stretched his wings in the mirror, letting them out to their full span. Stiff pangs ran through his back and neck, but he could feel his wings ready and waiting, trembling to be in flight once again. He turned to face the mirror, a determined smirk growing on his face. 150 million years since the origin of flight, and there was still just one way to learn. "Let's see what you've got, then," he said, and went to the window. Sliding it open, he swung out onto the small landing outside and climbed easily onto the rooftop.

Risa and Satoshi froze mid-discussion as a draft ran through the apartment. "He's gone again," Satoshi said.

Risa turned and rushed to the door, making her way down the stairwell. At the ground floor, she ran outside and crossed the street, making her way into the small open park there. She paused next to a large tree and looked up at the rooftop. Night was beginning to fall, and the hazy dusk drifted through the air like smoke. But she could see him make his way to the center of the roof and stretch his wings into the wind.

Dark's silhouette crouched down, preparing, and then shot forward, running toward the edge of the building. His strong legs struck together at the edge of the roof and launched him forward, great wings spreading wide to embrace the night air. Risa clutched her hand to her chest, holding her breath.

The angel caught the wind in his wings, faltering for just a moment. Then they gave out completely. With a hoarse, frustrated cry that made Risa's chest tighten, the graceful form buckled and tumbled hard onto the flat roof of the adjacent building. "Still no good," Risa murmured. She closed her eyes tightly as another scream of frustration ripped through the air. Satoshi or the vet would do all in their power to stop this behavior if they ever learned of it. Risa had nearly told them, the first time she'd seen it. But somehow, she understood. The pain of a winged being torn from the sky. Perfect, airborne freedom and a lost soulmate, all waiting beyond just one leap. A leap worth taking, every time, no matter how many times you fell.

It wasn't something she could interfere with, no matter how much it hurt to watch. The most she could do was pray, and observe to make sure he got up again.

Dark punched the concrete he was kneeling on, fighting back the urge to shout out again. Tomorrow. Tomorrow, he could try again. And when he could fly, he could go after Daisuke. Tomorrow…was so damn far away. He got up and methodically turned back toward the building he'd jumped from, hopping over into a fire escape and making his way up to the other rooftop. The buildings were only one story apart in height. It was the shock and disappointment of the fall that hurt more than the impact. But it was the only way to really see if he was ready. His wings would stop failing long before they stopped hurting, and there wasn't time to wait for the latter.

He swung down into the window of Satoshi's apartment and walked stiffly toward the bed, brushing himself off.

"Ahem," a voice in the corner of the room made Dark jerk sideways. It was Risa, sitting by the TV with a gentle expression. "Enjoying the sunset?" She looked calm, but she wasn't sure this was a good idea. Dark had to be in a bad mood after what just happened. She probably shouldn't intrude, but she had to.

Dark put his hand on his hip and looked at her. "Making an honest effort," he answered, a curious grin coming to his face.

Risa stood up and walked toward him. Dark stood his ground, but she could feel him mentally drawing back from her as she advanced. She hesitated when she noticed it, dropping her eyes from his lavender gaze. That only left her to stare at his shirtless chest, which didn't help any. A flush grew across her face. "I know you're eager to help Daisuke, but your health matters too," she said gently, deciding she was better off meeting his eyes after all.

"You were watching."

"I was." She frowned as Dark looked away, wondering if she'd somehow invaded his privacy. "I'm sorry."

"Not like it's a secret," Dark said, turning and flopping on his back on the bed.

"Doesn't that hurt? Landing on your back?"

Dark shook his head, crossing his arms behind it. "It's practically just a scar. The pain is gone."

"But I saw you…you fell," she said in confusion.

"The skin is healed, and the wings hurt only when I move them," Dark said with a note of concern that made Risa curious.

"And they hurt too much to fly?" she tried to clarify.

Dark frowned, a bit indignantly. "I can handle pain, if that's what you mean, but it's not the problem," he mused, squinting at the ceiling as some unspoken doubt crossed his mind. Suddenly the angel was having trouble keeping pain out of his expression.

Risa felt a cold dread settle in her stomach. She stared at him, trying not to consider the thought that just occurred to her. "You're not thinking…they can't…No, that's impossible. They flew fine before," she said, her eyes begging him to explain.

Dark sat up, resting his arms on his knees. His face was set in thought, not quite looking at her. "But that's incorrect. These have never flown before. At this point, we should prepare for the possibility they won't fly." His voice was cold and dry, practical. Then he focused again on his surroundings and looked at her. "What is it?" he asked, a bit alarmed by the expression on her face.

Risa's eyes were watering. She couldn't help it. "Of course they'll fly…how could they not fly?" she asked quietly, a faint tremble in her voice. Dark showed her a serious frown and looked at the window. Shouldn't have told her after all.

"Dark," Risa pressed. "Hattori said they were in perfect condition, no breaks, no wounds. I'm sure they'll be fine. Just give them a little more-"

"We don't _have_ time," Dark tore into her sentence.

Risa closed her mouth and looked at him closely. "You're really, _really_ afraid for him…why? I mean, I know he was kidnapped, and we're all worried, but you've been more than that, all this time. Do you know something?" she asked, slowly coming closer and sitting at the edge of the bed.

Dark threw his head back and looked at the ceiling. "I can't feel him, in my mind. I always could before. Now he's gone."

Risa studied him for a long moment. "You're three hundred years old…aren't you?"

Dark glanced down at her, uncertain what she was getting at. "Three hundred and four."

"In all those years, was there always someone else with you? Inside your…soul?" she asked, her soft eyes stripping his expression bare.

"Yes," he said, not liking the way his voice sounded. A feather lost in the wind.

"Then you've known Daisuke…"

"Since he was born. And his grandfather before him. But this body is…mine."

"And now you're alone in there, and you don't know how to be," she murmured. Risa stared at him, deep and intense until Dark was the one that had to look away, wide-eyed. "I'm so sorry," she gasped quietly, realizing what she was saying. The raw look on his face made her wish she hadn't asked anything. She'd never seen this side of Dark. Or maybe she'd never looked. Dark was a cool, suave daredevil, fearless and confident. He was above and beyond this world. Dark Mousy didn't get lonely. He didn't need the contact of another mind in his.

Dark glared at the wall outside his view of the girl. She was looking right into his soul, and he didn't know how. She was seeing things he hadn't told, or tried to tell, anyone. It filled him with an odd amalgam of relief and anger. And it _hurt._

"Dark?" Risa said cautiously, reaching out to touch his tensed hand.

"Don't, please," the angel said stiffly. Her hand froze and drew back. He straightened up and gave her an apologetic, mirthless grin. "But thanks."

"Dark… I-" Risa's voice squeaked up as the bedroom door suddenly flung open.

"Did you miss me?" Hattori announced, strolling into the room lugging a large, hard plastic case.

Risa looked back at Dark, and could have jumped. His entire demeanor had changed in an instant. That knowing smirk was up on his face. He leaned on his elbows , legs crossed, his eyes challenging the vet as he walked towards him. "I hope you're not planning to perform any sadistic experiments without my approval," he sneered.

"Oh, look at the birdman. It's so peppy today," Hattori mused, crossing his arms and squinting as he mock-studied the angel. "And perhaps even showing signs of intelligence! Or wait…maybe it just wants some seeds…"

"Personal pronouns. They're neat, try them sometime," Dark snorted.

Risa looked down at the large case Hattori had carried in with him. "What's in that?"

Hattori cast Dark a look. Dark raised his chin, approving something. "This little beauty is an electromyograph," he said proudly, unlatching the case and opening it up to reveal an unfamiliar machine and a collection of wires and sanitary supplies.

Risa blinked. "A what?"

"EMG. A test. Long story short, measures nerve activity in muscle tissue." Hattori was barely focusing on his explanation as he dug out a set of long needles. "Stick the needle in, measure the electrical activity in the muscle."

"It's a shot?" Risa stammered, a little uneasy at the sight of the needle.

"Oh, not an injection. And not just one; it takes a good number of samples to get a clear image of the muscle. The more complex the nerve system, the greater the number of points required."

"Don't you think your weird science could wait until _after_ he's recovered?" she scolded the doctor.

Hattori's expression grew more serious. "No. This is by request."

"Request? But what do you need to do that…for…" Risa looked from the vet to Dark.

Hattori paid little attention to the unsettled look on her face as he set up the equipment next to Dark on the bed and Dark turned so his back faced the vet. "EMGs are my specialty. Don't worry, I'll keep it as short as possible," he murmured to Dark as he sanitized the needle and cautiously touched the center joint of his left wing. "Then we'll have a clear-cut answer."

Dark took a deep breath and focused on relaxing his wing as the vet supported its weight in his experienced hands.

Hattori pressed a metal sensor in through the feathers against the skin of the joint. "I'm sending through a small shock," he explained, and touched a button on his machine. Dark flinched and his wing gave a restless tug against Hattori's grip, feeding electrical readings through the machine and into an earpiece the vet was wearing. "Easy. Here's the needle." Dark looked straight ahead as Hattori slipped the first needle into his joint.

"How long does this take?" Risa breathed.

"Fifty…no, forty five minutes. You might want to keep him talking," was Hattori's answer as another needle prompted a tense jerk from his patient.

"Nice personal pronoun," Dark grinned tightly.

"Is it supposed to hurt him like that?" Risa asked skeptically.

"The more damaged the nerves, the more the potential for hypersensitivity," Hattori noted and flicked his hand at her, indicating that he needed to stop talking and focus on his earpiece.

"Stronger shock," he warned, and clicked down the button. Dark jerked and locked his gaze in front of him, not looking back to see the next set of needles entering in for readings.

Risa stood up and walked to the other side of the bed where she could face Dark. She pulled up a chair and sat down. The angel's tense gaze settled on her. The shields were fully up in those deep purple eyes, but they still locked onto her like she was the only handhold on a sheer face. "So, Harada Risa, tell me about Earth and the last two years," he smiled.

Risa blushed as she realized how attentive he was being. _Calm down, you're just distracting him from the test. That stare doesn't mean anything. _"Um…Niwa-kun and Riku just celebrated their two-year anniversary! Satoshi and I, too. I know you're not crazy about him, but he's-" she faltered without meaning to as a shock made Dark wince, but he didn't quite blink. He was focusing all the attention he had on her.

"Satoshi's different now. He changed so much since that day. He opened up a lot, started talking to people, although he's still not very good at it. Oh! He even bought me flowers for our anniversary, although we didn't get to actually have a date. I know he hasn't been very nice to you, but you have to understand that Daisuke's his best friend. He's probably really worried about him."

Dark held his tongue, but he doubted that was really all it was. They had been enemies; Satoshi had endured a harsh childhood just so he could destroy him. And if he was right that the blue-haired wing host somehow missed Krad, then telling Satoshi he'd left the other angel to languish in solitude for eternity may not have sat well with the boy. Satoshi's attitude was more than just anxiety over rescuing Daisuke. Technically, everything the Hiwatari had lost in his life was Dark's fault. His childhood, his father, his soulmate, and now his best friend. Of course the boy blamed him. Dark hadn't argued the point.

"Hey, I have an idea," Risa said, concerned about the grim expression that had grown on Dark's face. "Instead of lying around here tomorrow, let's get out. There's going to be a school festival at the junior highschool down the street. It's known for being pretty amazing, the kids really go all out. Why don't we all go there?"

Dark grinned cooperatively. "Alright. Sounds like fun."

It was an hour later when Satoshi looked up from his book to see Hattori emerging from the bedroom with Risa close on his trail.

"Are you certain that's what it said?" Risa was demanding. The annoyed look on Hattori's face said that this wasn't a new conversation. "Can't you just do the test again? There may have been some mistake."

"Don't you think he's had enough?" the vet turned on her, the large plastic case forcing her out of his personal space, and gave her a stern look. "I do this for a living. There's not a mistake."

"But you've never even treated a…_him _before. He can still heal."

"I'll give you this much. It's a miracle he can move them at all. But they won't fly."

"He will!" she said confidently. "And you've got to tell him so! If you don't give him hope, he won't even try."

"Will you stop it! Believe me, I'd have loved to see him fly as much as you." Hattori snapped as Dark emerged from behind them. Hattori glanced over at the angel, and they both fell quiet. It was unfair to have this conversation right in front of him. "Sorry, pal," he said, meeting Dark's eyes.

"First time I've seen _you _this ruffled, Doc," Dark commented with a bemused Smirk. "Don't let me break up the party." He walked past the vet and the girl to where Satoshi was sitting at the table. The angel spun a chair around and sat on it backwards, crossing his arms over the chair back and meeting the Hiwatari's curious eyes across the table.

He looked at Satoshi with an expression so logical and composed that it hurt a little to look at. "We're going to need a new plan."

**-oOoOo-**

Krad walked a slow lap around the fountain in the park, glancing occasionally at the last shreds of color draining from the horizon. The kid had been staying after school working on some big project each night, but he'd never been this late. The angel swallowed his irritation. He wasn't about to sit around waiting for the stupid human to show up. Pulling his coat a little tighter against the chilly night, he picked up his gait and headed toward the city.

'_What am I doing, anyway?'_ He wondered as he entered the populated streets. He'd been on Earth, in this body for four whole days, and done nothing toward his goal. No humans had died by his hand, and he hadn't located any of his objects of revenge. He'd flown over the Hikari boy's old house, and found it empty and up for sale. The annoying redhead also seemed to be absent from home. And all evidence strongly suggested that Dark was no longer alive. That made revenge a bit more complicated, but if there was one person the white angel most wanted to destroy, it was the wing host who betrayed him to that wasteland for two years. Of that, he had no doubts. But what was he thinking, keeping this child around him?

He walked through the crowded streets until an appealing scent caught his attention. Slipping his hand into his coat pocket, he slid out the credit card Jirou had left with him. Krad examined it, and then looked up at the ramen shop across the street. Humans sat at every chair and table inside the shop, eating and talking with their arrogant stupidity and foolish, snorting laughter. Suddenly the food seemed less appealing, as did the human money he held in his palm. Shoving the card back in his pocket, the angel frowned and continued on down the street, unpleasantly conscious of the humans swarming around him on the busy sidewalk.

The angel clenched his fists, considering the aftermath if he were to wipe out this whole block right now. Blow away every sniveling, self-absorbed human in sight, and reduce the shops to burning wreckage. But using that much power would leave him weakened and even hungrier, and then he'd definitely have to go to a human shop for food. He didn't feel like it. But the anger inside him felt good, familiar. His hatred was good company, like an old friend. It was a relief to find it again, to be able to clear his head of confusion.

He walked on with new energy, uninterested in destroying them tonight, but comfortably determined to do it soon. Turning down another street, he began passing a large open gate when the sign next to it caught his attention. "Morita Junior High School." This was the boy's school. Krad's expression grew into a dark sneer. He'd teach that Brat to keep him waiting.

Turning in through the gates, he proceeded down a path that ended at a large brick building several stories tall. So this was the school. Krad walked up to the front door and let himself in, making his way down a long, pale hall. A pair of female students walking down the hall noticed him and stared at him curiously as they passed. With his bright gold hair and burning eyes against the dull grey trenchcoat, he more than stood out. Krad made eye contact with them. "I'm looking for a boy named Jirou," he said.

The girl on the left blushed fiercely under his gaze, while the other said "He's from class 2-C, right? I think he's in the auditorium working on the set for their play tomorrow."

"Although I heard it's way behind schedule. Will they really be ready by the festival?" commented the other girl.

"Which way," Krad said flatly. They pointed down the hall. Krad followed their gaze toward a pair of double black doors and walked off without another word.

"God, he's cute…" the girl murmured.

"I know…how does he know that scrawny book freak?"

"Want to follow him?"

"Don't be crazy. Guys who stand out like that are usually bad news. Besides, we've got to finish our own stand for tomorrow. We're not exactly on schedule either," her friend said, scooting her off toward their classroom.

The heavy black door whined as Krad pushed it open and stepped out onto a large stage. The curtains were open, baring the stage to a dark, empty auditorium. One row of stage lights lit the stage area, which was strewn with large standing canvases and cans of paint. Krad walked slowly onto the stage, his shoes thudding dully against the wooden floor. He came up next to one of the canvases and studied it. The image of a lush forest was half-finished on it, smelling of wet paint. He inclined his chin and looked down his nose at the amateur technique, continuing forward between two canvases to spot Jirou seated on a stepstool with a can of paint in his lap.

The boy was facing sideways relative to the angel, completely lost in what he was painting on the canvas in front of him. "Quite the artist," Krad said sourly, making Jirou jump. The boy spun toward his voice, looking at him in shock. There was a smudge of green paint under his eye and across his cheek. "You…you came to my school?" he gasped.

"I can go wherever I choose," Krad snapped.

"I guess that's true…" Jirou murmured. I'm sorry for taking so long…I'm really glad you're here. He met Krad's eyes, and looked surprisingly close to tears. Still, he was smiling. Krad eyed the boy suspiciously. "I never thought you'd come here for me," Jirou said.

"I'm not your friend," Krad said coldly, "We already clarified that. Explain your failure to meet me this afternoon."

Krad's words didn't sink in. Jirou was too thrilled to be hurt or afraid of the angel. "You're in my _school!_ This is amazing!" Noting the impatient glare in the angel's eyes, he started explaining, "The others were supposed to help me. They all went home and left me to do it. I don't even know how to paint, and the sets are barely started…it could take me all night."

"And you expected I'd wait all night in the park?" Krad said sourly.

"No…I thought you'd disappear. I'm sorry I left you alone," Jirou said. "I guess it's stupid of me. My classmates stole my favorite book from my locker. I'm not supposed to have it in school…they told me to finish the set or they'd report it. Then the teacher will contact my parents, and they're angry as it is that I disappeared overnight after what happened at Shinto World."

Krad rolled his eyes. Children's bullying. Although a lot of the problems in Jirou's life did seem to spawn from him, but that wasn't the angel's problem.

"Do you think…could you stay with me here? If you're not busy, I mean… I hate being in here alone." Jirou looked into his can of paint and frowned. "Sorry, that sounds childish, right?"

Krad grimaced. "I'm not some kind of stuffed animal. What is this shoddy painting meant to be, anyway?"

"Those three are a forest, the four over there are a school bus, and the rest are for the classroom scenes."

Krad closed his eyes and took a slow, contemplative breath. Why was he doing this? "Get started," he finally ordered, rubbing the side of his head.

Jirou's smile was bright enough to light the auditorium. He dipped his brush back into the paint and tackled the canvas. Krad sauntered over to a stepstool and thunked down on it, watching the boy's progress dully. An awkward silence fell between them as they sat without speaking for some time.

"I wish I had a name to call you," Jirou said eventually while he was prying open another can of paint.

"Why? 'Master' should be good enough for you."

Jirou rolled his eyes. "There's no way I'm calling you that. It's corny," he sighed.

Krad crossed his arms, not offering anything further.

"So, what about your friends? What do they call you?"

The white angel frowned at the boy. "Stop asking about pointless things."

"If you never let me ask you anything, I can't get to know you. It's okay, I'm not great at making friends either," he said in frustration.

"I'm not interested in your friendship," Krad snapped.

"Then leave! You have my credit card already, if that's all you want!" Jirou's face paled as the words slipped out. Krad's livid expression was like a train wreck he couldn't look away from. _Don't chase him off, you idiot! _

But Krad didn't say anything, and he didn't move. _He doesn't have anyplace else to go…what if he has no friends?_ Jirou looked over at him strangely. He'd never really considered that before.

"Who were you with, before you met me?" he asked cautiously, careful to keep his eyes on his painting. "What were you doing?" He'd wondered about it constantly. Was he from another planet? Another dimension? Was he a mass killer on the run from somewhere? "Sorry, guess you won't want to answer that one either."

"I was with an enemy," Krad surrendered the information emotionlessly.

Jirou stopped what he was doing and looked up at him. He'd actually answered. He pushed his astonishment aside, wanting to ask more before this window of cooperativeness passed. "Then where is your enemy now?"

"Dead," Krad breathed too quietly for the boy to make out.

"I…couldn't hear you," Jirou said.

"He's dead. And the one who was to be my ally betrayed me long before his death." His gold eyes met Jirou's with fiery heat. "So you see, _human_, I need another 'friend' like I need a hole in the head. Understood?"

"I'm sorry," Jirou said, "If I knew, I wouldn't have brought it up."

"Don't you dare pity me!" Krad spat in disgust, rising to his feet. Jirou raised his arm instinctively in front of his head, expecting the angel to hit him again.

Krad came up on Jirou so fast that the boy was certain he was going to get beaten, if not killed. "Look, all your foolish talking and you've barely done anything. I've never seen such blithering artwork in my life," he scorned, looking over the boy's shoulder at the half-finished canvas.

"I told you, I stink at art! And I suppose you're some kind of expert," Jirou snapped, frazzled by the fright Krad had just given him.

"As a matter of fact, I am," Krad said, leaning in close to the canvas and examining the linework.

Jirou sighed, throwing down his brush. Krad's attitude was just making the work more miserable. "Serves them right if it's not done at all."

"If you feel that way about it, it is no wonder your work is terrible," Krad said. "Art doesn't work that way."

"Fine, then let's see you do it," Jirou smirked, holding out his paintbrush. That should shut the angel up.

"I have no interest in completing your project," Krad snorted.

"Have it your way, but the sooner I finish, the sooner we can eat," Jirou said, dipping his brush into the paint. _Jerk,_ he thought, not looking back at the angel. What had he expected? That because he was some fantastical creature, he'd automatically be a good person? That his boring, isolated life would somehow change? He pressed harder into the canvas, brushing with harsh, impatient strokes. He just wanted this done so he could go home.

"Come," Krad's voice said over his shoulder. A strong hand grabbed the back collar of his uniform and tugged him up off the stool, dragging him backwards to the edge of the stage with paintbrush still in hand. "Stay." Krad left him standing there in shock and walked back toward the canvases. He grabbed one and rotated it so it was facing the audience, studying the line art. Then, he lined the next up with it, and the next, until all the canvases were standing in a line. He gave Jirou a cross look as he marched back to stand at his side. Jirou narrowed his eyes in confusion.

The angel looked over the canvases, an old excitement he'd nearly forgotten about tingling in his blood. He reached into his coat, knowing the boy was watching, and produced a pure white feather. Holding it at arm's length, his narrowed his eyes and the feather burst into golden dust, floating in a loose sphere in front of him. The angel reached out, cupped the spell in both hands, and drew them apart until the sphere had grown to several feet in diameter. With a flick of his fingers, the restless energy dispersed.

"It's…gone," Jirou said, fascinated but confused. Krad looked at him, tilting his head condescendingly. "Brush," he said, his eyes holding a supernatural glow as he remained focused on the spell. He held out his hand, and Jirou gave him his brush uncertainly.

A smirk formed on Krad's face. He pointed the brush at the end of the leftmost canvas and slowly began moving his arm to the right. A golden light swarmed over the canvases as he moved, like water flowing over a pane of glass. And appearing in the light's wake as it traveled was finished, beautiful scenery. Krad's eyes swam with images and lights as his own muses swarmed through his mind into the spell, until he'd aimed the brush all the way to the opposite side of the stage. The last of the gold light faded, leaving the result in front of them. Forest, school bus, classroom. Every single canvas was painted with exquisite realism. When it was finished, Krad's eyes burned back to their normal golden hue and he handed the brush back to Jirou.

When he looked down at the boy, however, Jirou wasn't staring at the finished sets, but straight up at him.

"You looked happy," Jirou said in disbelief, "Just now. I've never seen you look so happy." He glanced to the scenery and his smile widened. "This is incredible! How did you even…"

"Expert," Krad reiterated, grinning as he surveyed his work.

"My classmates will never believe it," he shouted victoriously, turning to Krad. "You're amazing!" He ran to get a better look, staring at each canvas in awe. He jumped up and punched the air in excitement. "Yeah!! It's perfect!"

Krad crossed his arms and watched the boy jumping foolishly around. It was amusing. Maybe the kid was right; he was happy. It had been a long time.

"Alright! Let's go buy a _huge_ dinner!" Jirou said ecstatically, sealing up the paint cans and dragging them off stage.

Krad smirked. "Be careful what you wish for," he said sternly, but the cold tone didn't match the expression on his face. Jirou couldn't stop looking at it as they sealed up the auditorium and made their way back out to the street.

"You know, the school festival is open to the public," Jirou said quietly. He'd been gathering up his nerve in silence for three blocks now. Krad looked down at him, those deep gold eyes drilling into his head. "In…in case you wanted to. I mean, if you were bored." Jirou bit his tongue, deciding to stop there before the angel grew annoyed again. Another foolish question for the master with no name. He'd learned more tonight than in his whole time spent with the strange being so far. Better to quit while he was ahead.

"I'll see."

Jirou looked slowly up at Krad like he hadn't understood the comment. "Sorry, what?" he asked warily.

"I said," Krad looked directly at the boy, stern eyes sending a futile warning not to get his hopes up, "I'll see."

**-oOoOo-**

**To be continued…**

**Well, I know I said Satoshi would meet Krad in this chapter, but then I remembered a bunch of stuff I wanted to happen first. Then the chapter wound up too long, as you can see, so I'm going to have to post it in two parts. I also rewrote the beginning of this chapter twice, so sorry for the long update time. **

**I was playing around with more fan art. This time it's one of Krad and Jirou on the roller coaster from an earlier chapter. The link for it is over in my profile, if you'd like to see.**

**I just started watching Dr. Who. I haven't fallen this hard for a show in a LONG time. Not since I first saw Trigun in 9****th**** grade. Watching three seasons of that may be another reason this chapter took so long to come out hehe. SO GOOD!**

Stormshadow13: Very good observations, all very right. The reunion scene for Krad and Sato will definitely be a challenge. I wish I'd gotten to it here! Thank you as always for your reviews!

D: Love interests, coming up! I'm very glad you're enjoying it so far, feel free to make all the suggestions you want!

Falsetto54: Thanks for the review! See you on youtube, and keep writing!

Sanluris: That is extremely flattering! I'm always wondering if my pacing is right and if the story is making sense to people, so it's a real joy to read your comments! Thanks for the review, and I hope you keep reading!

Sapphire: I was so happy to read your reviews! I woke up one day and they were all in my inbox and it just completely made my day, and helped me to finish the chapter. Thanks for your comments on Deviantart as well. Don't be a stranger!

Peppymint: Those words never get old. So nice to know the next chapter is wanted! Thanks for your review.


	14. Feather in the Wind Part 2

**Chapter 14**

**Feather in the Wind Part 2**

**Author's note: This chapter mentions a few things that I just want to define so no one feels left out. "Taiyaki" is a Japanese festival treat that basically consists of sweet bean paste between a pair of fish-shaped waffles. They're REALLY good. I also mention the Richter scale. For anyone not familiar with it, it's used to rank the intensity of earthquakes and runs from 0 to 10, with ten being the strongest. Ok, that's it!**

The midday sun was at its peak in a bold, clear sky. The light blared through the tightly drawn shades in Satoshi's apartment, throwing eager patterns across the opposite wall. Dark glanced at the window, as if telling it not to rush him, and loaded a flashlight from Satoshi's bottom drawer into a backpack on the bed. He stared at the bag for a moment, reviewing its contents, then smirked approvingly. Zipping up the fly of the bag, he picked up a long black coat that he'd thrown over the bed and pulled it on, pulling his wings tightly against his back. "See how you like it in there, useless One and useless Two, he quipped somewhat accusingly, throwing the pack over his shoulder.

He turned toward the door, which suddenly burst open. "Dark!" Risa bounded into the room looking excited about something. Her expression visibly faded as she saw the bag he was holding. He studied her, waiting for her to speak.

"You don't look like you're going to the festival," she said unhappily.

Dark frowned apologetically. "Risa, you know I can't afford it. If flight's not an option, the only thing that makes sense is to go to plan two. The sooner I go, the better. A day's wait could mean Daisuke's life."

"A day more could also mean _your _life. Your wings could recover and you could approach this safely. Even Satoshi doesn't think the other plan is likely to work."

"I'll make it work," Dark said. "We don't have another choice." The angel touched Risa's shoulder and gave her a firm look. "Risa, they're not going to fly again," he said, wishing she would stop arguing otherwise. It stung.

"Why assume that? Why do you have to give up? If they were going to kill him, don't you think they'd have done it already?" Risa pleaded.

"Yes." Dark said. His violet eyes bristled with anger and loss.

Risa's expression drained white at his anger. She looked guilty and confused, and then a flush of indignant frustration colored her cheeks. "And what about me? Where do my feelings come in?" she demanded. "Or did you think you're the only one who will suffer if you get yourself killed? Is that it? After all this time, I'm just that girl who gets in the way of your missions, all over again. What do you take me for, anyway?" she nearly screamed.

Dark crossed his arms and just looked at her as she seemed on the verge of tears. He took a deep breath, turning his head to look at the window. Why was she doing this? "Don't. There's a _lot_ you don't know about me," he said, making an effort to be tactful, but the words were still cool with frost as they left his lips.

"Apparently there is," Risa murmured, studying him like he was a total stranger. "So, start teaching me." She touched the strap of his backpack and nudged it off his shoulder. Dark didn't help her; it fell to the strong hook of his bent elbow and hung there stubbornly. "One more day. Just give yourself that, and then if you need to go, I won't stop you," she said, looking straight into his eyes.

Dark locked eyes with her like they were locking weapons. He didn't realize he'd made a decision, but apparently his arm did, because it straightened downward, allowing the pack to fall by its strap into the firm grip of his hand. He reached sideways and set it back on the bed. "Lead the way," he said, turning her toward the door by her shoulders as if they needed to hurry before he changed his mind.

Risa smiled triumphantly. She reached up and took his hand from her shoulder, clasping it firmly and dragging him out of the room. Dark allowed her to tug him out into the main room. "Satoshi, aren't you coming?" she asked the blue-haired boy, who seemed absorbed in a news report on television.

The boy looked over at them. "You guys enjoy it, it's really not my thing," he said, sounding distracted.

"You said yesterday you'd come," Risa said disapprovingly.

"I'm sorry, there's something I need to check on." Satoshi's words were patient, but he seemed very serious about staying. His eyes kept drifting back toward the TV.

"What's going on?" Dark asked, starting towards him, but Risa pulled him back toward the door.

"Oh no, you don't. We're going. Let Satoshi sit there and be gloomy," she said firmly, pulling Dark out of the room. He exchanged a brief eye contact with the Hiwatari, who held up his cell phone and narrowed his eyes. _'I'll call you if something happens,' _his look reassured the angel.

Dark managed to nod without looking too ridiculous as he was physically yanked out the door.

**-oOoOo-**

Humans. Were. Everywhere. Krad's expression worked into a reflexive scowl as he stood at the gates of the school, letting the crowd mill around him like a rock in a stream. His gold hair shone like a sun in the fair weather. He was wearing tan slacks and an untucked, white collared shirt under the long grey coat that covered his wings. The day was too hot for the coat, so he wore it open. To say he was having second thoughts was an understatement. What was he thinking, coming out to an event like this? He hadn't made any promises. But now, it was almost a point of pride.

Just beyond the crowded gateway were hundreds, maybe thousands of students, parents, siblings, and other guests who'd decided to attend the school festival. Booths dedicated to various shops and games bordered the schoolyard like some Egyptian bazaar, and upbeat rock music was blaring from a radio somewhere in the mess. Different human words came to his mind, like 'festive' or 'cheerful', but they seemed sharply contrasted to his own impression of the scene, which was 'overwhelming' at best and 'hellish' at worst.

He'd come back to this plane determined to destroy humanity, and yet here he found himself standing at the gates of one of their functions, actually thinking about going in and participating, and feeling like some kind of imposter. He didn't belong here. He _really_ didn't. A throng of human teenage girls brushed past him, giggling about something as they entered the fair. He glared at their backs as they disappeared into the festivities. How could it be so easy for them and so wrong for him? He'd been invited.

With that thought he stepped forward into the crowd. It moved with him as he took a straight course into the throng. He shuddered at the sense he had of being absorbed into something pulsing and alive. A girl about Jirou's age tugged on his sleeve, telling him something about a fashion show in ten minutes. She broke off, fascinated as he looked down at her and she could see his face. The hand-made flyer she'd been holding up to him pulled closer to her chest and she blinked. "Do…do you want to be in our fashion show?" she asked nervously, starry-eyed.

Krad fought back a cross remark, remembering that the day would be easier if he could blend in. Snapping at a little girl would not help, even if she was keeping him from getting to the school building, which seemed like an oasis compared to the crowd out here in the yard. "What?" he asked flatly, at a loss for words.

She tugged on his pant leg, waving for him to come closer. Krad rolled his eyes, but knelt down so the girl could reach his ear. "You're really pretty," she whispered.

The angel turned his head and stared at her. He supposed a human of his gender would be offended by her choice of words. But nobody ever said he wanted to be human. He looked at her closely for the first time. "How about modeling yourself?" he mused awkwardly, touching a loose strand of her long, velveteen black hair. The hair was healthy but unstyled, the way girls wore their hair when they never expected anyone to look at them.

Her face lit up – in a few years, it would be a pretty face, if she dared to wear it with confidence. "You think I can?" she asked, big dark eyes shining.

Krad frowned, unsure how to handle her excitement. "Yes," he said flatly and stood up, continuing his trek toward the school. Her eyes followed him for a moment before she turned and wove excitedly through the crowd back toward the fashion show booth.

The angel's expression drifted back into a focused frown as he worked his way through the commotion, although he wasn't as tense. Surprising. Either he was growing numb from displeasure, or he actually felt slightly less out of place. Either way, it was still a relief when he reached the relatively open stairway area that led to the glass doors of the school's front entrance. He climbed the stairs in a swift, fluid movement and walked directly to the brick wall next to the glass doors. He turned and leaned against it, drawing a slow breath and looking out at the crowd like he'd just climbed out of a pool full of jellyfish. His gold eyes hardened as he surveyed them all and caught himself looking for a certain blue head in the crowd. He gritted his teeth in a snarl. That was about the last person he'd wanted to think of at the moment.

"You actually came," a voice murmured from his left. Krad snapped his attention to the side, cold eyes settling on the kid's small form coming out of the glass doors. "You look mad…did you wait long?" Jirou said cautiously, coming up next to the angel as the door swung closed behind him.

"I just got here," Krad said, looking away at the crowd.

"You don't like us much, do you?" The question brought Krad's gaze back down on the boy. "Humans," Jirou clarified, looking at him for confirmation.

"You know I do not," Krad said, hoping the next question wasn't why he'd come to the festival when he despised them so much. He didn't know the answer to that one any more than Jirou did.

Jirou closed his eyes, thinking, accepting. When they opened again, he seemed determined. "Want to go try the taiyaki booth?"

Krad scanned the crowd of milling bodies. "I think not." He turned a sour glare on Jirou as the boy grabbed his hand and began tugging him toward the crowd anyway.

The boy had to stop tugging when he realized it wasn't working. Krad hadn't struck him yet, but the look on the angel's face was far from tolerant. "Why come here if you don't want to do anything?" the boy demanded.

There it was. "I can observe from here."

"Don't tell me you're afraid of crowds. Or…afraid of humans?"

Krad scowled at the confused boy. "A lion does not walk calmly through a pack of hyenas," he said. "It's not fear; it's common sense." He shook his head, wondering why he was bothering to explain himself to a human child.

"Master," Jirou said, because he needed the emphasis of a name and still didn't have one, "No one here wants to attack you. You're the only one plotting. The only one angry…"

Krad arched his fingers into fists against his palms, leaning back against the brick. "If you want 'taiyaki', get it. I will remain here." His voice sounded overdrawn, tired.

Jirou had never heard the angel so strung out. Looking Krad over suspiciously, he turned and walked out into the crowd to find the right stand. _'And see a few other things while I'm at it,' _the boy thought. _'I'm not missing the fair just because of him.'_ Still, he felt a pang of guilt when he looked back at the angel. He looked very alone against the brick wall, despite his calm posture. The boy wondered for the thousandth time who the stranger was, and where he actually belonged.

**-oOoOo-**

Dark raised his head attentively as they approached the festive atmosphere of the schoolyard. He froze at the gates of the school, looking out over the crowd. Everyone here was having fun, with no cares beyond the day's festivities. Sharing the same wish. Dark could feel it like a positive energy rolling through the crowd. It made him long to step forward and become part of it.

"…rk. Dark!" Risa's voice brought his attention over to her. "Are you alright?"

"Of course," Dark said, managing not to sound distracted. "There's something amazing about…this. I wonder if any of them even realize it."

"It's like listening to a thousand drums beating together," Risa said dreamily. "They're all holding the same rhythm without even thinking it."

Dark turned to stare at her. "Yes…yes, that's it exactly," he murmured in wonder. "You can feel that?"

She threw him a smile that stole air from his lungs. "When I'm with you," she answered. She grabbed his hand before he could respond and dragged him into the crowd.

Dark followed her at a half-jog, thinking about the soft squeeze of her fingers. The crowd's cheerful energy spread to the dark angel effortlessly, like a drug, and he found himself smiling without meaning to. This was his element. Art, passion, excitement. It would take physical effort to let his anxiety follow him here. Did Risa know that bringing him here would do this to him?

"Oh! They have taiyaki," Risa gasped and pulled him toward the tent.

"Going straight for the junk food," Dark snickered. He was rewarded with sharp heel on his sneakered foot, but Risa still dragged him to the stand.

"Two taiyaki please!" Risa called to the little boy who was running the shop

"I'm sorry, we just sold our last two," the boy said, pointing to another student with red-black hair who was making off with two taiyaki. "If you come back in fifteen minutes, we'll have more."

Risa turned on the boy who'd just snagged _her_ taiyaki and collared him. "Hey, if you let me buy that from you, I'll give you 500 yen," she said sweetly to the boy.

"Sorry, I need it," he said, giving her a suspicious frown and tucking the waffly treats further under his arm for safe keeping.

"But you have two," she said almost pitifully. Dark slapped his hand to his forehead and began pulling at Risa's arm, wishing she'd give it up.

"One's for my friend," the boy said stubbornly.

"I don't see your friend," Risa challenged.

"He's over there," he said, pointing to the school, "And he's been waiting a long time for me, so I have to go. Sorry," he said, breaking away.

Risa raised up on her tiptoes to see the school steps, still suspicious, as if she'd be able to tell which one was his friend just by looking.

"That went smoothly," Dark said, following her gaze to the school. He muttered a curse as he and Risa spotted the same thing at the same time. A slim figure with long gold-blonde hair and an aura of power that only belonged to one person. Normally, Risa might not have been sure from this far away, but standing next to Dark, she could actually feel the magic dancing along his skin as their powers called to each other. Krad seemed to notice it too, jerking upright from his casual stance against the school wall.

"What is he doing here?" Risa said very quietly, her voice trembling as she let go of Dark's hand.

"I have no idea," Dark frowned.

"You lied to us. You told Satoshi he wasn't coming back. You lied!" Risa shouted. She pounded her right hand on his chest, shoving him back.

"I said what was needed to keep you safe," Dark said.

"You call this safe?" she cried, raising her hand like she would hit him again. Instead she just glared at him, hurt and confused.

"Risa, go someplace protected," he ordered stiffly.

"What are you going to do?"

"For once, just do what I say and go!" he snapped.

"Yes, Sir," she growled, shoving roughly past him and disappearing into the crowd.

Dark's eyes dimmed and looked back at the school. Krad was standing at the top of the stairs, presumably trying to spot Dark's head in the crowd. The dark angel watched as the boy from before scrambled up the stairs and stopped at Krad's side. He held up the taiyaki he'd protected from Risa, but Krad looked distracted, not bothering to take it.

Dark didn't have time to indulge his curiosity about who the kid was or why Krad seemed to know him. Maybe the boy was just some stranger who thought Krad looked like he needed a taiyaki. Dark had a feeling it would take more than a fish-shaped waffle to fix his counterpart's attitude. He collected his anger and made his way toward the front of the school. This was bad news, approaching Krad in a public, crowded environment. But now that the white angel knew of his presence, Dark wasn't sure he could trust him not to grow impatient and just start blasting the crowd. He kept his head down and pushed toward the building. His own anger was rising as well. The weight of his unresponsive wings under his coat reminded him of how much the other angel had taken from him.

Risa didn't look back as she ran for the side door of the school. Angry tears streamed down her cheeks by the time she reached it. She looked up with bleary eyes and saw that the school had an old fashioned bell tower surrounded by a low stone balcony. That looked like a safe enough place, plus she could use the privacy at the moment. Pulling the heavy door open, she ran inside and found the stairwell, running past a pair of students who were carrying a box full of costumes down the stairs.

Her heart was pounding when she reached the top. She searched and found a smaller second door that led up to the tower area, and made her way up the narrow staircase until she reached the balcony. Heart pounding, she looked down at the tiny heads milling through the crowd. How could Dark lie about something this important? She collapsed to her knees and turned to sit with her back to the cool brick of the balcony wall. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she curled forward and tried not to care what was happening on the ground behind her.

**-oOoOo-**

Satoshi sat straighter in his seat on the couch as the commercials broke and the newscaster reappeared on the screen.

"And now we're back to bring you an urgent update on the earthquake warnings that are in effect for this area," said a leggy young woman in a blue skirt suit. "Previously, our geologists suspected the possibility of minor earthquakes between 1 and 3 on the Richter scale this afternoon. As you know, tremors of this scale are small and pose little danger to buildings and personal belongings. As always, these reports are speculative and cannot accurately predict exact times or intensities for the shakes." She took a deep breath and stared seriously into the camera.

"Unfortunately, we have just been alerted that the forecast has changed. Warning tremors have been detected that indicate a much stronger quake is incoming within the next ten to thirty minutes. Teams throughout the area are on high alert for a possible Richter 8 or 8.5 occurring soon, if not immediately. Citizens are encouraged to find shelter in basements or beneath doorways of strong, modern buildings until the quake has passed, and to communicate this warning to as many people as possible, as this warning is urgent."

The woman's voice continued in a steady stream of tense syllables, preaching to an empty room. Satoshi had run to the bedroom, hammering Risa's number on his cell phone next to the window, where the reception was strongest. The phone clicked for service and began ringing. "Come on, pick up," the boy muttered, glancing at his watch. Out on the street, people were walking calmly. The vast majority of the city would not be watching their televisions at two in the afternoon on the nicest Saturday of the year. The phone rang in long, droning waves of sound, unanswered.

Risa lifted her head off her knees and sullenly dug her vibrating phone from her purse, glancing at the caller ID. "Not now, Satoshi," she sighed, having no idea what to say to him. She didn't know how to explain why she wasn't with Dark, or that his psychotic former counterpart was apparently part of the festivities. It occurred to her that since she loved Satoshi, she ought to want to tell him what she was upset about, but she didn't see the boy as a source of comfort. She never had. It was an odd revelation. She thumbed the End button, then reconsidered and just powered off the phone. "Sorry, I'll call you later," she apologized to the phone softly, cradling it against her forehead.

The call ended with a computerized beep. Satoshi narrowed his eyes at the display as it returned to his main menu. Grimacing, he dialed Risa's number again and clutched the phone to his ear. Her cheerful voice came on the other end, greeting him happily and asking him to leave a message. "Risa, it's me. There's an earthquake warning, you need to get somewhere safe. Call me back," he said quickly before slamming the phone shut. He had no idea why her phone was off, but whatever was going on, she wasn't getting his message in time for it to matter. He tugged his sneakers on, grabbed his keys and ran for the stairwell, slamming the door behind him.

He narrowly avoided bowling over a pair of women carrying groceries as he burst out on the ground floor and hit the street running. The school hosting the festival was an older building, definitely not designed to take a Richter 8 quake. Why the hell didn't she answer her phone? Did she forget to charge it again? That flaky girl… He tried to focus on running and not being annoyed as he wove through the other pedestrians at a full sprint.

**-oOoOo-**

TBC…

I just came out of a two month –complete- writer's block. I had to leave my job for various reasons and the buildup to that left me too drained to muster any creative effort, but I seem to be back, so I'm gonna roll with it.

A few shout outs…

Liz – Thank you for your review! Very, very glad you like it!

Arktos – Thanks! That's extremely flattering. There are a lot of good fanfics out there, I wish I had more time to find and read them!

Bansheegrrl – Thanks!! I'll try to keep things rolling. This last update took much longer than normal, blah. Thank you very much for reading!

Horselvr4evr123 – Nice to meet you! I'm so sorry you've had writer's block, I hope it clears up soon (or that it cleared up since your review)! If you've still got ideas, please don't give up writing! Thanks for your review, let me know if I can help by reading your story in return sometime.

Poisoned Black Rose – I'm glad you like my descriptive writing! I wish I had more patience for description. I often think I don't take enough time with it, but my head thinks "go plot go!" Ha ha. Thank you for reviewing as always!

Determindtowin – Cool, you're still around! It was nice to see your review. Life is busy, good luck with it and no pressure.

Stormshadow13 – I'm glad the painting scene worked out! That was the reaction I was hoping for. You ask very good questions!! _("Is the reason that his wings don't work because the rabbit was his wings and he never really had his own? And if so Isn't there some way that they can be fixed magically? Also couldn't Dark just summon Wizz... the rabbit to him to be his wings again?") _I definitely have completely omitted Wiz from the story, not exactly by accident. To be honest, it's because I think it's a flaky mascot character, which I understand isn't necessarily the popular view (grin). As I understood it, Wiz was some sort of extension of Dark's power that made it possible to avoid summoning 'real' wings like Krad, because doing so would put some enormous strain on the wing host (i.e. Satoshi's freakout sessions every time Krad's wings grow out of his back). I'm going to use the argument that Wiz ceased to exist along with Dark when he was sealed. It's a very reasonable question though, but nah, there won't be any obnoxiously cute bunny creatures in the story.

Sapphire – (Cheers) I'm really glad you liked that scene with Krad and Jirou. It was tough to do without taking anyone out of character, but based on your reaction, hopefully I had at least partial success there! Thanks for your review as always!

Bunny Grl – Sorry I still didn't get the Satoshi/Krad reunion going! But as you can see, it will definitely happen in the next chapter, which should hopefully be done very soon. I hope Dark gets to fly again too! -Waves authory magic wand thing and ponders his fate-

THANK YOU!!!


	15. Collapse

**Chapter 15**

**Collapse**

_**Author's note: If you're the type who likes to read to a 'soundtrack', I'd recommend "Coming Undone" by Korn for this part.**_

Dark clenched his fists as he broke through the crowd, almost to the relative openness at the base of the steps leading to the school. Krad was standing at the top of the stairway, scanning the crowd while the boy stood beside him looking confused. Those gold eyes drifted down and narrowed fiercely as they finally spotted their target.

Dark's senses whirled with a dark intuition and he knew he'd been spotted. Krad's attack came too quickly to dodge, a ball of light shooting straight into the crowd to nail him in the chest. Dark doubled over, but made a run toward the stairs as screams and shouts of confusion erupted in the crowd around him. "Not here, you idiot," Dark breathed thickly, trying to pull the air back into his lungs from the blow. He pulled a feather from his coat and channeled it into an arc of black lightning that flew straight at the blonde. 

Krad made a sharp cry as the power surrounded him in a paralyzing shell. He collapsed to his knees, too much power flowing through him to move. Jirou stared at him in shock, then reached forward and tried to grab at the energy that seemed to be hurting the angel. "Who is that?" he asked, his voice shaking.

"My enemy, Krad hissed, his voice crackling with electricity. 

"You said he was dead," Jirou said, pushing through the spell to grab onto Krad's arm, as if he could pull the angel free with his small power.

The white angel frowned, still confused about that himself. The smear of blood and feathers on the cliff side had been enough to convince him Dark was gone forever. Now he stood before him, apparently in good health. Where was the evidence of that fall? Believing Dark dead had given him a strange, empty feeling, but discovering his survival caused a fiery anger to well up in place of the emptiness. He'd been deluded, confused for nothing. "He should be dead," Krad strained in response to Jirou's question as Dark made it up the stairs to stand in front of them. As hard as he tried, he could barely move under the crushing weight of Dark's spell. "You can not hold this binding forever. When it runs its course, I will destroy you," he sneered up at Dark.

Dark stood tall over his counterpart, his violet eyes alive with power as he focused to hold Krad still. He turned a dark glare on the boy who was clinging to the other angel, blocking Dark from attacking further. "Is this your new strategy? Manipulating human children to do your dirty work?" Dark snarled, his voice warped slightly by the power running through him.

Krad scowled. "Release me and I'll show you my dirty work."

"As much as I'd love to, I'm not fighting you here. It's too crowded," Dark growled.

"Ah, that's right, always worried about your precious humans. An inferior race that's never done a single thing for you. Unfortunately, I'm not going anywhere. I rather like the idea of taking you down in this crowd. I can kill two birds with one stone," Krad sneered.

"Is revenge still the one and only thing you ever think about?" Dark hissed in frustration, feeling his spell faltering. He could only hold Krad's power for so long.

"And what about yourself, Dark? Constantly thinking about nothing but your useless wing host. Which of us is more obsessive, I wonder?" the white angel smirked. The magic surrounding him flickered, Dark's spell nearly exhausted.

"I'll say this once. If you give a crap about that kid, get him away now," Dark threatened, a ball of black energy forming between his hands. If Krad insisted on a fight here, he was going to get one. "Don't think I'll hold my fire. Get lost, kid," he snarled furiously.

Krad blinked at the other angel. He'd never seen Dark pissed enough to involve humans in a fight. Of course, it made sense for him to be up for a battle, but something about the black angel's bitter glare made him wonder if he'd missed something. Would Dark actually shoot the boy in front of him? He felt the spell's heavy pressure loosen around him, free enough to move again. "Get in the building," he said, barely loud enough for Jirou's ears.

The boy glanced back at him in protest. "What about you?"

Krad grimaced, risking a glance away from his opponent to glare at Jirou in stupefaction. The boy was refusing to leave without him. This particular predicament was one he'd never encountered in his life. He didn't have time to coax the boy into getting lost. Instead, he grabbed Jirou by the back of his collar and tossed him sideways with effortless strength. 

Jirou screamed reflexively before tumbling across the cement. When he managed to make the world stop spinning, he looked up at the angel from his hands and knees, shoulders hunched like another hit might be coming. Krad wasn't even looking at him. He was throwing balls of explosive white energy at this strange new enemy. The attacks whizzed past the violet-haired stranger, who broke into a rapid strafe to the left while returning attacks of his own. The shots that missed flew into the fleeing crowd or up against the school building, leaving shallow craters of crumbled brick in their wake. 

Jirou stared at the two as they fought. He could actually feel the power rising off them both like monstrous twin spirits. But he couldn't help noticing that while the violet-haired man was doing significant damage to the school building, Krad was the only one whose attacks were hitting the crowd. "H-hold on! People are getting hurt!" he screamed to Krad.

The white angel flung a glare at him, a hesitation that cost him a blast to the shoulder. He staggered, and the brief moment was all Dark needed to close the remaining distance between them. In a blur of clothing and hair, Dark's two-handed strike connected with Krad's chest and sent him flying soundly into the glass doors behind him. The reinforced glass splintered into a shower of glittering chunks that clattered across the cement. Snarling, Krad caught the jagged edges of the doorframe and used them to propel himself back onto his feet. He formed a wall of blinding white magic and hurled it toward the dark angel's chest.

Dark brought his arms up to protect his face as the light scattered around him, pounding at his skin and clothes. When the barrage ended, he slumped forward with a dizzy gasp, looking for his opponent. His coat was frayed by the blast, torn roughly open on one side. He spotted Krad coming down at him from above and jumped sideways, narrowly escaping the attack. The white angel threw a wide punch at his counterpart while he was recovering, but Dark caught his fist, twisted, and threw Krad over his shoulder to land on his back. Krad's impact with the earth sent faults across the cement, chunks of stone that had already blown loose rattling eerily. 

Jirou stared at both angels, frozen in place. These two were causing real damage… The crowd in the schoolyard was panicked and pressing toward the school's narrow gateway, sifting out into the safety of the street like sand from an enormous hourglass. He realized that Krad had been right; he had to get out of the way. _"Inside,"_ he'd said before. Looking at the school's ruined front door, he ran for it, nearly falling as he slid on the shattered glass. Jumping through the broken doorframe, he ran in and around a corner until he felt he could duck safely out of way of flying glass if needed, but still close enough that he could see what was going on. He pressed himself to the wall and fought the urge to run deeper into the school, worried about the fight going on outside. 

Krad lay breathless from his impact with the cement, his body not quite willing to move. He shook his head dizzily as Dark's face appeared above him. "Revenge, murder, I'm so tired of your stupid games," the black-winged angel snarled, throwing a burst of energy down into Krad's chest to punctuate his words.

"If you think it's a game, then obviously I am not playing hard enough," Krad grunted, raising his hand to fire up at Dark. Instead, three more bolts of black-violet energy shot into him, and the spell fizzled in his hand. His chest felt like it was hit by a jack-hammer, and he had the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. He drew a tight breath, glaring. "How is your little wing host? Did you have your happy little reunion, or maybe he moved on without you?" he rasped. Dark's eyes narrowed, like a wasp had stung him and he was trying not to flinch.

It wasn't much, but Krad used the opening to fire a decoy shot up at Dark and regain his feet. He tore off his coat, giving his wings room to maneuver, and began beating them for a takeoff. "No you don't," Dark shouted, jumping forward just in time to catch onto Krad's ankle. With a fierce twist of his hands, he managed to send Krad stumbling back to the ground. 

"Why stop me? I thought you'd be _glad_ for a change of location," Krad demanded, truly baffled by Dark's actions. Truth be told, he didn't want to be stuck here with his wings hanging out when the cameras showed up. 

"The crowd's already gone, we're settling this now," Dark said, throwing a punch at Krad's face.

Krad just snarled and spun around to Dark's back to throw another ball of power at the angel. The light exploded like a grenade at Dark's back, and it was all he had time for just to throw a shield up around his skin. His coat and shirt shredded apart beneath the impact, leaving one of his wings hanging loose from the fabric. Krad blinked and studied it, perplexed. Something about it was wrong…it didn't hang right. A cold feeling settled in Krad's gut, and he wasn't sure why. "Why not fight in the air?" he demanded, quietly. 

"Because I said we're settling this here!" Dark roared, whirling on Krad with a hook punch that sent him flying sideways. The white angel desperately grabbed the front of Dark's shirt and dragged him down with him, and they tumbled across the ruined pavement. 

Krad was always slightly stronger where magic was concerned, while Dark had more in the way of brawn, so it wasn't a huge shock to him that Dark was able to come out on top in their grappling session. What surprised him was how fierce Dark's movements were. The black-winged angel tugged Krad sideways and pinned him harshly on his back to the cement with his head hanging off the edge of the staircase. Dark's free wing still hung oddly behind him, and Krad frowned at it. "What's wrong with your wings?" he demanded.

"Nothing, you nosy bastard," Dark glared.

"You're hiding them. What is it?" Krad set his gaze stubbornly.

"You…" Dark's rage was thick enough to taste like gas in the air. One spark, and boom. "…Keep your damned mouth shut." 

Krad raised his eyebrows. "Oh, my, you're being awfully scary," he mocked, throwing his weight to the side and working to break free of Dark's grip. The two angels locked on their sides, neither gaining a real upper hand. Krad's gaze grew more serious, even impatient. "It's obviously not normal, so talk."

"You know exactly what's wrong with it," Dark growled, pulling his fist back and using the short proximity he had to throw a punch into Krad's stomach.

Krad coughed and narrowed his eyes, unable to get his hands free to strike back. "Enlighten me," he grunted through the effort of keeping Dark's wrist from getting enough room for a second punch. 

"Why did you ditch in the middle of the spell," Dark demanded, pressing his face close to Krad's. He hurled his weight and came back on top of the gold-haired angel. Krad didn't offer much resistance; he seemed to have suddenly gone still for some reason. 

The black angel drew his hand back and punched the white angel across the cheekbone. Dark was trembling with hopeless anger, glaring down at Krad. "Two years, _two years_ taught you _nothing!_ You selfish, arrogant, sadistic bastard!" he shouted, throwing blow after blow into Krad's jaw until Krad finally caught his wrists in each hand and their arms locked between them.

"You intended to keep me there, in that hell for eternity!" Krad shot back, but he looked stunned.

"Yes! Because you're_evil_, Krad. The only thing you know how to do is hurt people!" Dark's free wing arched upward, echoing his anger.

"You can't fly?" Krad finally said it like a question, but there was more than curiosity in his voice.

Dark's nails dug in against Krad's arms. The white angel looked the worse for wear, his shirt torn to shreds and his face bleeding. "I loathe you, Krad," he hissed, "But I've never _once_ shot for your wings." He threw each word out like a curse, as if he regretted his sportsmanship. 

"You-," Krad's sentence chopped off as the ground began vibrating under his back. It was a small, distinct movement. "What the…" Dark had stopped wrestling his arms, which was good because he'd forgotten to push back. Then everything happened at once. A fierce shudder ran through the cement into them both, like the earth was trying to break itself apart. 

"Are you doing that?" Dark asked.

"No," Krad said, glancing over his shoulder at the ground suspiciously. Another shudder ran through them, stronger this time. The pavement cracked under them and a portion of the staircase shifted downward half a foot, sending the angels off balance. They tumbled sideways down the stairs, both catching their grip about half way down. The vibrating was a constant tremor now, a drumbeat for the larger shakes. A terrible rumbling sound was in the air, and it was difficult to tell if it was coming from the earth or from all around them. A water main burst on the street outside the school, adding gushing water to the chorus.

A sharp scream came from the air above them. Dark and Krad both looked up. The voice was near the upper level of the school. "Dark!" the voice screamed again. 

The angel narrowed his eyes and spotted Risa standing at the railing in the bell tower. He started to wonder what the heck she was doing up there, then remembered telling her to find someplace safe. "Get out of there!" he shouted up at her as the earth lurched again. Visible cracks spread up the brick walls of the school. 

"The door's stuck!" she screamed back, clutching onto the railing to keep from falling over.

Dark straightened up, alarm cutting into his anger from before. The building wasn't looking good. If it collapsed with her up there… He scrambled to his feet, sore all over from fighting Krad. He cast a look back at his counterpart, as if warning him not to try anything, and made a run for the building. This didn't seem real, but it was a constant possibility in this particular area's geography. Japan and its stupid earthquakes… Dark jumped through the broken door and skidded on glass on the other side, skating into the opposite wall. The angel caught the wall with his hands and pushed himself sideways, his sneakers finally finding traction on the tile floor. 

He ran for the sign that read 'stairs' and burst into the stairwell. Another tremor staggered him against the wall. He kept his footing and continued running upward, using his arms as bumpers to keep from smashing into the sides of the stairwell. A deafening moan of twisting steel echoed through the walls. The school's framework was threatening to collapse. All Dark could think about was Risa trapped at the top of the building. He forced his legs faster, his heart leaping in his throat. Bursting out at the top of the stairwell, he panicked for a moment when he didn't see how to get up to the bell tower. Then he spotted the smaller doorway to his right and turned the knob. It was stuck. He had to slam his full weight into the door to open it. It seemed the building had affected the doorframe when it shifted, but at least it still worked. 

He ran up the extremely narrow staircase that wound up to the bell tower, needing both hands on the walls of the corridor to stay balanced, and found a door at the top, presumably the one Risa couldn't open. Dark tried turning it first, rattling the knob forcefully as he shouted "Risa!" through the door. He faintly heard an answering cry from the other side. "Get away from the door!" he yelled, drawing back and kicking it with all his strength. The wooden door crackled under the impact, but there was no rattling, no shifting of hinges. The doorframe was thoroughly pinned by the brick around it, too tight to give. 

Dark threw kick after kick into the door, until his hair clung to his skin, damp with effort. The tower lurched, throwing Dark back against the wall across from the door. Clusters of stone and rubble were showering down from the ceiling, annoying his eyes and throat. _"No..no no, not her too!" _he could have screamed, but instead he threw all his focus into a ball of blazing violet energy and launched it into the door at point-blank range. He crossed his arms over his face against she spray of debris and splinters of wood, then finally looked up to see a few patches of sunlight drifting through the battered door. 

More hopeful now, the angel held on to the wall for balance and kicked firmly at the edges of the hole, pounding away clumps of ruined wood to widen it until he could get through. The roof was collapsing behind him as he broke through the door into the blinding sunlight. Even if the world wasn't already clearly lopsided, the angle the large school bell was hanging at screamed that that the tower was tilted at least by a 20 degree angle. Risa was holding tight to the higher end of the tower, as far from the door as she could get. She looked up at him, relieved, trusting, like she was certain they'd be okay now. 

Dark wasn't so sure. There was no way they'd make it back the way he'd come, and the tower was about to fall. They were three stories up; it was no joke.

His doubt must have shown on his face, because Risa held her hand out toward him. "Let's go! Don't give up!" she screamed to him over the noise, gripping the railing as the ground lurched another foot to the side. Her eyes found his and held them, nervous and hopeful. "Use them!" she pleaded. 

Dark grimaced, not seeing much choice other than to try. He ran towards her, ripping off what remained of his coat in the same movement, and arched his wings at his sides. He could feel the air tingle through his wings, every feather alive with the memory of flight. He pulled Risa up into his arms in a swift, powerful movement, jumped up to the railing, and launched off the falling tower, thrusting his wings outward like an eagle grasping for the currents of the sky. The wind filled out under them, hooking them upward in an exhilarating, victorious lift. 

Dark's eyes glittered with hope and agony. Pain laced through his wings and back, but he was fighting it, he was flying, winning. He drew a tight, fierce breath and struggled to stay above the sensation, stay focused. But then a paralyzing numbness spread through him, like a limb that's fallen asleep, and suddenly his body was deaf to his instructions. His wings jerked upward like a broken kite, and a moment later they were in freefall, still twenty five feet above the ground.

"Dark! _DARK!"_ Risa's worried voice sounded miles away as Dark struggled to move, to hold the wind again like he had a moment ago. 

"I can't," he gasped, and wasn't sure if the words made it to his lips. It was all he could do to twist backwards so that he was between Risa and the ground and spread his wings as much as he could bear to slow their descent. Branches blew past them as they neared the ground. In a last ditch effort, Dark gripped Risa tightly and 'threw' her upward as hard as he could, slowing her fall in the only minor way possible. Her choked scream was the last thing Dark heard before he blacked out. 

Krad took more time than he wanted to in getting back to his feet after Dark ran off. Those last few shots to his chest and face left him feeling breathless and disoriented. He held one arm across his ribs, touching what remained of the railing with his other hand. The ground lurched again beneath his feet, and he cast it a furtive glare like that might stop it from moving. A wild groan of twisting metal drew his gaze to the school. The building wasn't faring well. It would probably collapse. A loud crash sounded from just inside, sending rubble rolling out into the hallway behind the shattered front doors. 

Definitely going to collapse, he updated his assessment, turning to survey the area around them. The street was abandoned now, with no one remaining in the schoolyard. Other buildings were showing signs of damage, but most were newer structures and residences with more modern architecture behind them. The water main was spewing forth water some twenty or thirty feet into the air, flooding out a portion of the street's cracked pavement. Sirens sounded in the distance. Somehow Krad doubted the police would prioritize "birdman sightings" over earthquake damage, so there was little threat anyone would be coming anytime soon. 

A faint shout of pain reached his ears, and the angel scoured the area to find it's source, taking a few steps down the ruined front path. He'd thought there was no one in the yard. It wasn't until he heard the voice again that he realized it was coming from the collapsing building. On top of that, he abruptly recognized the voice. He spun his attention back towards the building, gold eyes flashing over what he could see of the inside. That stupid kid was still in there…

He jogged toward it, waiting to hear the sound again and judge where the kid was. And then do what? He grimaced, pausing mid-step. Diving into collapsing buildings to save scrawny wingless necks was Dark's area of absurdity. And there was no doubt, the school was coming down. No sooner had he thought it than the ceiling above the front doors began to crumble, ready collapse in on itself. 

"…a_ster!_" the voice screamed again, and this time Krad was close enough to pinpoint it. Against his better judgment, he walked forward, nearly under the collapsing foyer, and peered down the hallway. Jirou's arm was the only thing visible in the dusty light of the semi-collapsed hall. From the angle of the hand, it looked like the boy had been pinned down on his stomach. There was no way to tell from Krad's vantage point how much of his body was trapped, but evidently his head was still free, since he was doing a good enough job yelling. Yelling for him…_there_ was an odd concept. The angel's mouth twitched up into a grin, but it didn't stick. Another cry echoed from the end of the hall, but it wasn't intelligible, sounding more like a sob than a coherent cry for help. 

The roof chose that moment to give way, collapsing downward in two huge segments. Krad's mind had enough time to think that it would be impossible to retrieve the boy once the passage was blocked. It started as a passive thought, but faltered and picked up a different momentum with a flare of unexplained panic. 

"_The only thing you know how to do is hurt people!"_

Suddenly he was lunging forward. He didn't know why, didn't even entirely want to, but he was still doing it with a fervent urgency he didn't understand. He centered himself under the falling structure and threw his hands up, catching its sinking weight. His spine bowed under the enormous mass, sending warnings through his body that it wasn't designed for this. He sucked in breath and groaned with the effort, shuddering. "Kid!" he snarled, feeling like he might snap in half if he let too much air out of his lungs. If there was a response, he couldn't hear it through the blood rushing in his ears. 

Crap, if the boy couldn't get out, he'd need to get in. How was he supposed to hold this thing up and reach the other end of the hallway? With a careful effort, he walked his hands in quick, sliding movements a few inches at a time until he'd made it about four feet to the left. He faltered as his left hand slid to an uneven surface and he nearly dropped the whole thing down on himself. With a sharp groan of effort, he lost his overhead grip and dropped the weight to rest just above his shoulders, shuddering under the pressure. "Damn it, Jirou!" he screamed down the corridor, sucking in quick, tight breaths. It was the first time he'd used the kid's name, but hey, who was counting. 

**-oOoOo-**

Satoshi cursed under his breath as he ran down the ruined sidewalk like his life depended on it. His lungs felt ready to burst, and what was worse, he was already too late. The tremors seemed to have stopped, though that was never a sure thing with earthquakes. His elbow still stung through his black collared shirt where he'd fallen and skinned it after one particularly rough tremor. He'd hoped he could warn Dark and Risa in time, but it seemed everything had already happened. That didn't stop his adrenaline from surging as his shoes pounded the cement. He finally saw the school gates up ahead. One of the brick pillars had cracked up the middle, but they both still stood. The building, however, wasn't so lucky. He could tell that much even before he'd reached the gates and looked in at the destruction. 

He paused there between the pillars, regaining his breath and trying to make sense of the scene. So much dust was in the air that it was difficult to see any detail, but he did hear someone shouting up near the building itself. Someone was alive up there. 

Covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve, he ran towards the front of the school, where he'd heard the sound. As he grew closer, he made out the silhouette of the person, and his breath caught. "Dark?" he called out, running up the broken stairs. The male figure was trembling under some enormous strain, wings arched backward and down, but it turned its head to look at him as he approached. 

Satoshi stopped short. He was three yards away now, and from here he could tell that the wings weren't black, but white. What really paralyzed him, however, were the glowing gold eyes that glared at him over the figure's shoulder. No…this wasn't possible…

Krad was distracted by the sight of the wing host as well, almost losing his focus on the enormous weight above him. "Sssatoshi-ssama," he strained, snapping his neck forward again. He couldn't afford to spare any attention from his current task, but it was impossible not to react to the boy. 

Frowning warily at his former angel, Satoshi edged closer to see exactly what Krad was doing. His mind was whirling with too many thoughts to process, but somehow curiosity came out on top. He heard a distant cry come from inside the ruined building. He stopped just outside the roof Krad was holding up and eyed the angel warily. People were trapped inside. And Krad was trying to save them? He didn't believe it, not for a second. "Someone's crying," he said to the angel testingly.

"I can't hear-…" Krad snapped, wincing in concentration. 

Satoshi crossed in front of the angel, stepping under the roof Krad was holding in order to do so. He moved slowly, ready to jump out again if this turned out to be a trap. He looked over the angel's scratched skin and torn clothing, his gold-blonde hair hanging in weary strands across his shoulders. It was really him. "How are you here?" he demanded, fighting to keep his voice from shaking.

"Ho? Did Dark…forget…to tell you?" Krad rasped, accusation making it into his tense voice. He'd heard what Satoshi called him when he first approached. So the kid was in league with Dark now. The weight above him felt suddenly heavier, if that was possible. His eyes drifted to the dirt and scrapes on Satoshi's clothes. "Clumsy brat, like always," he hissed. 

"You don't look terrific either," Satoshi returned angrily. "Drop this roof on me, and I will _not_ forgive you," he warned, taking a cautious step further into the ruins.

"My heart….grows cold…" Krad snarled between ragged gasps. He couldn't afford any more energy for arguing with him. But he believed the Hiwatari would do as he promised, and like it or not, Krad needed help. "Hurry up," he winced.

Satoshi couldn't believe he was trusting Krad to keep a building from collapsing over his head. He had to use both hands to navigate the wreckage and make his way over the piles of rubble, until Krad was just a blurry form behind him, silhouetted against the brightness outside.

Every good instinct he had screamed to get out now, but for some reason he continued forward. "Hello?" he called out.

"Here!" a small voice called from just beyond the rubble he was standing on.

Satoshi scrambled over the pile to find a young boy, maybe ten years old, pinned to the ground by a chunk of brick wall. He looked up at Satoshi in confusion, as if he didn't expect him there, but then seemed to accept it. "I can't feel my legs," he said tightly, all his composure wound like an overstretched rubber band that could snap at the slightest pressure. It was clear he was trying very hard not to cry.

Satoshi frowned at his words. That didn't sound good. He crouched next to the boy and saw blood leaking under the brick, which pinned his lower back and legs. Grabbing the edge of the stone slab, he heaved upward on it. It was incredibly heavy, but it did budge. Unfortunately, there was no way Satoshi was going to get it completely out of the way and be able to set it down. "I need you to drag yourself out. Use your arms if you have to," he told the boy.

Jirou used his elbows and shimmied out of the pile. His right leg did move to help a little bit, which Satoshi took as a good sign that he wasn't paralyzed, but there was a deep gash across the back of both legs that was bleeding heavily. As soon as he was clear, Satoshi dropped the slab with a heavy thud and turned to the child. The older boy pulled him up by the shoulders and cradled him as gently as possible against his chest, but there was no way to avoid hurting him as his other arm supported him under the knees of his torn legs. The boy groaned, squeezing tears from his eyes. Definitely not paralyzed. "Is the white one okay?" he asked, gripping Satoshi's arm.

"What?" Satoshi blinked.

"The two fighting, a black one and a white one, did the white one win?" he said earnestly. The older boy frowned. The kid was assuming he'd seen the fight, which meant everyone else had, too. The publicity was not a good thing. It would change everything, but he wasn't ready to think about it yet.

"He's fine," Satoshi said without enthusiasm, wondering what could possibly be deluding the boy to make him worry about Krad. He decided to focus on getting them out, climbing with the boy back towards the exit. Getting over the rubble was a little more difficult with the child in his arms than it had been going in, but a handful of seconds later they were back within sight of Krad and the exit.

Satoshi was stepping around a pile of rubble when he stumbled over something too soft to be stone. He glanced down and felt his stomach twist. He'd just stepped on a human arm, and a child's at that. Satoshi stared down, fighting back a wave of nausea. A young girl lay at his feet; one more step and he'd have crushed her head. She was lying very still, covered in so much dust that he hadn't even noticed her on his way in. 

Satoshi's legs had turned to lead, which made it easy to kneel down next to the young girl's body. A soft sound drew his eyes down to Jirou, who was also staring at the body. 

"Hitomi…that's Hitomi. Is she dead?" he nearly whispered, his hands balling in the front of Satoshi's shirt.

The older boy frowned and reached to her neck for a pulse. It thrummed healthily under his fingertips. Satoshi felt like he'd been stuck underwater and suddenly burst to the surface. "She's just passed out," he said, not liking how detached his voice came out. His gaze then dropped to the probable cause of her condition – a steel beam that had collapsed on her arm. This presented a new problem. The end of the beam was pinned under the heap of rubble he'd just climbed over.

"What are you stopping for?" Krad demanded.

"There's another child here," Satoshi snapped, his nerves shot.

"Leave her!" Krad yelled.

"It'll only take a second, Krad," Satoshi shot back, shifting Jirou's weight into his left arm and pulling at a loose chunk of stone that tumbled easily off to the side. The beam visibly eased, flexing up slightly from the girl's hand. One or two more, and he'd be able to pull her out.

"Get out!" Krad howled impatiently, his voice thick with anger.

"She's almost out," Satoshi snapped, throwing another boulder out of the way. The steel beam shifted with a groan. _Yes,_ he thought as the girl's arm shifted, meaning he'd be able to move her.

"For once in your life, do as I say!" Krad snarled, shifting the roof downward threateningly. "Away from her now, or I drop the roof."

Satoshi froze, glancing up at the ceiling as it lurched about a foot and stopped in a rain of dust and debris. Krad would do it. He always meant what he said. He would really drop the roof on them. Why he hadn't done so already was beyond Satoshi's comprehension. 

"Ten seconds!" Krad roared. "Nine! Eight!"

Warily, Satoshi leaned away from the girl and stood up. Adrenaline rushed through him, telling him to get out. Before the angel could count down any further, he burst into a scrambling run for the exit. They were about four feet away when Krad let go without warning and threw himself out of the way. With a loud grinding sound, the roof collapsed downward. Satoshi dug his feet in and literally dove for the ground outside the school, escaping the cave-in by a fraction of an inch. 

He pushed himself up on bruised elbows to take his weight off Jirou, who was unconscious. There hadn't been much choice except to land on top of the kid. 

Satoshi pushed up to his knees and glanced at his surroundings only to be jolted sideways by a hook to his jaw. Krad was standing over him, looking ready to take another shot. "Stupid brat, you never _listen,_" the angel scowled.

The Hiwatari flushed, overcome with anger. He thrust up to his feet, drew back and slugged Krad's jaw with everything he had. The hit connected and sent the angel staggering sideways. Satoshi grabbed his shoulders and threw him along with the movement, slamming him up against a slab of wall that still stood beside them. Surprisingly, Krad's body moved easily where Satoshi guided it, his head even smacking backwards into the stone before the angel managed to raise it up again and glare at Satoshi. Satoshi just glared back. "That little girl is dead! I could have saved her! But you had to threaten me, and then drop the building on us anyway! You're right, I will _never_ listen to you, because you're a lying, two-timing bastard!" Satoshi seethed, throwing a punch at the center of the angel's chest.

"You're a greater fool than I estimated if you'd think for a second I'd risk destruction waiting for you," Krad hissed. His right hand shot up and caught Satoshi's punch, while he used his other hand to shove the boy away from him. 

The angel's wrists trembled wildly with the relatively weak effort, making Satoshi back off and study him. No matter how much adrenaline he had, roughing up Krad was not something Satoshi had enough manpower to accomplish, and yet he was fighting the angel almost blow for blow. It didn't inspire any hesitation in the boy; he couldn't think of anything at the moment that could make him forgive Krad for shafting them, nor for the hundred prior grudges he'd had the last two years to dwell upon.

"Where did Dark go? I assume you didn't kill him," Satoshi said harshly, the memory of his original purpose for being there competing with his desire to go at it with Krad until one of them stopped twitching. 

Krad's expression twisted with disgust. Satoshi really was siding with Dark. "You dare take his side… Again!" he growled.

"I don't give a shit about Hikari blood and Niwa blood. I want Daisuke and my girlfriend back, and then I want nothing more than for both of you to go back to whatever holes you crawled out from and stay there. Now which way did he go?"

"I couldn't possibly care less about how you reunite with the allies you've chosen," Krad hissed, his arms tensing as if to strike, but his wings hung at his sides without enthusiasm. Every muscle in his body felt like it was about to collapse, burning like his heart was pumping acid instead of blood. He wanted Satoshi to get lost before his expression started showing it. Satoshi was the last person he wanted to see how weak he was. 

He'd overestimated his strength holding up the cave-in, and it forced him to back out earlier than he thought to keep his body from snapping in half. Satoshi thought it was an intentional trap, and that was probably for the best. Satoshi was a logical person. He'd only push a fight if he knew Krad was weak. Krad didn't want to move, let alone fight again today. "Guess you'd better start looking," he said coldly. 

Satoshi shook his head in disdain, taking a wide path around the angel on his way to Jirou's side. He was going to have to start looking for them at the hospital, because the kid didn't have much time. Scooping the boy up in his arms, he cast a watchful look at Krad to be sure he hadn't moved. The angel's eyes followed him with a dark glare. Sighing in disgust, Satoshi turned his back on him and descended the steps at a jog, rushing toward the hospital. 

Krad winced and staggered back a step, dropping to a seat against the ruined wall. His body throbbed mercilessly, inflaming the dozen uneasy thoughts that were racing through his head. He'd leave as soon as he could, but for now he hunched forward and held his breath to keep from yelling.

TBC…

**-oOoOo-**

These things keep getting longer and longer! I'm on page 13 here. Oh well, this one was slow going because of the fight scenes and a lot of difficult emotional bits. Also, just thought I'd say that my creative 'soundtrack' for writing this part was "Coming Undone" by Korn. It's so perfect for this particular fight and the earthquake scene. I'd love to hear how people reacted to this chapter! 

Coming up, the whole game changes after the public - and the enemy - learn of Dark and Krad's return. 

Shout outs:

Dianna rose – Glad you like it! Hm, Krad with a cute girl, eh? Depending on your definition of cute, you may be seeing that very soon (wink).

CelloSolo2007 – You write such wonderful, detailed reviews! Thank you for all your feedback! 

Jade Taylor – Thanks for giving it a try! I'll try to update fairly regularly, but rest assured that the story is definitely planned through, and I don't plan on dropping it : ) Thanks for your review!

Peppymint – Thanks for reviewing! I think you're right about losing his wings being a traumatic experience for Dark, and I'll probably do just what you suggested in the next chapter.

Bansheegrrl – Haha, sorry about all the cliffhangers. I have trouble finding good stopping points lol. I guess this one's a cliffhanger too in some respects….oops X) Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!

Stormshadow13 – Cool! I'm thrilled the chapter brightened your day, that's such a cool thing to hear as a writer! Unfortunately Jirou did sort of get hurt, oh well. You're right, Dark's in for it when Krad finds him. I keep laughing every time I read your Risa comment, because it's so true lol. Albeit I have been trying to make her a functional character, but I can't change the fact she's so melodramatic P. There are some good sides to that kind of personality, like being idealistic or optimistic when everyone else is jaded and practical, but she can also be very hard to make likeable at times. Your earthquake question is a very good point, but I'm gonna say this one's unrelated to Dark and Krad. Just Japan being Japan. Thank you for your awesomely thorough reviews! They always help me think of the next part! 


	16. Fallen Angel

Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"**Fallen Angel"**

He was lying on a thin medical bed, the kind that was cold against your back no matter how long you lay there. Come to think of it, he didn't think he was wearing a shirt. He'd have to look down to be sure, but for some reason, he couldn't move to look at his own body. At the moment, that seemed to make sense. Machines buzzed in the space above his head, and he didn't turn to look at those either. He knew what they were, understood the small beeps that sounded periodically from the sensor behind him.

None of that seemed worth looking at, because when Dark turned to try and inspect them, nothing moved but his eyes, just enough to catch a glimpse of cool metal in the corner of his vision. Instead, he sat up, and suddenly it was the most important thing in the world to get to the door, to get into whatever was on the other side. He couldn't see his legs as he pushed to his feet, but it felt like it had been a long time since he'd stood, like they weren't quite sure how to move. The harder he tried to run for the door, the more his body seemed determined to proceed at a painfully slow walk. The perimeter of the room glowed with machines and monitors. For the first time he was able to turn his head and look at them.

There was a man in the corner of the room. He sat on a stool, calmly watching, neither hindering nor helping his progress toward the door. Dark was surprised to see him there, but felt like he shouldn't be, like he'd known this person for some time now. He was confused by the instincts he felt toward the stranger, as if he represented a source of oppression, but was also a curiosity, not quite as frightening as he should have been. There was hope mingled with the feeling, and Dark resisted it. He was more comfortable viewing the man as a threat, couldn't quite trust any other feelings.

Again he pushed his feet harder toward the door, without taking his eyes off the stranger. He tried to make out his face, but the only things that focused were those pale, hard grey eyes that held too little emotion to be trustworthy. He could find nothing of meaning in those eyes. The rest of his face seemed vague and unimportant, the features blurring into insignificance around those silver eyes.

"I couldn't stop them, kid. Things took too long," the man said as he finally reached the steel door, and without looking Dark knew it was the man in the corner speaking. The voice matched those eyes perfectly. It seemed like there was honesty behind the words, maybe even emotion, but the voice didn't hold the right inflection to sound it, like it had no experience with such things.

With a surge of panic that Dark didn't think he should have felt, he reached out to the keypad just under the door handle. He knew with a dormant awareness that the lock had a twelve-digit key, and it was something he'd learned some time ago, but this was the first time he was actually using it to get out. His fingers struck the keys and the knob shifted down with a click that was too loud. He grabbed it and pulled. Dark took one look out into that hallway and knew immediately that the entire situation was somehow wrong. His own thoughts were wrong. As if the broken form lying on the cold tile in front of him wasn't already a disaster, his mind seemed changed, no longer under control.

It was undoubtedly Riku's body that lay in a loose fetal position, naked on the tile. Her small breasts were mostly hidden by her arm, and Dark could feel a pull of flesh low in his body, an attraction he knew he'd never had before. He stepped forward, disturbed by the sensation, but nothing was important compared to making sure she was still alive. He knelt next to her, his heart beating in his throat, and brushed the soft copper-red hair out of her face. Again, his fingers moved so slowly. He seemed too scared to know the truth, too scared to do what was necessary. Dark wanted to know. He wanted it over with. Suddenly he was in control, and he felt something alien within him begging him _not to look - it was too much, he couldn't bear it_. _"DON'T!" _a voice screamed inside him loud enough to make him wince. Dark ignored the feeling, frowning, and brushed the hair aside.

Risa's deep brown eyes stared up at him, wide and crusted with tears. Unblinking, unseeing. Dark could feel that voice inside his body screaming at him, sobbing pitifully while he took the girl's pulse and confirmed what he already saw with his eyes. The ground gave way suddenly, with a crash so loud his head throbbed. The room disappeared around him, shattering into a blur of blue as he found himself falling, collapsing through the air, surrounded by wind he couldn't touch, couldn't be one with, ever again. He stretched his wings wide, and felt nothing. No strength, no pain. Just falling, weak and useless. The voice was still screaming in his head, but he couldn't hear it anymore, because he was yelling too now, howling with wordless pain and anger and loss too enormous to express, except to scream and scream until his throat was raw. At last, the world blurred to darkness, like a giant merciful hand was crushing around him, and his senses dissipated into vagueness.

**-oOoOo-**

The first thing he was conscious of was the jarring ring of Risa's cell phone. It took several seconds to recognize it for what it was, and not confuse it for screaming. The angel's eyes snapped open and slowly took in his surroundings. He was on his back. A few tree branches blocked out the dusk-heavy sky above him, black against its bright orange and gold hues. He turned his neck slowly to the left and noted Risa's cell phone buzzing feverishly against some leaves, still ringing.

His mind wasn't fully working yet, but he rolled stiffly onto his side, stretching his hand out to reach the phone. His body protested the small movement, but nothing inside him screamed 'broken'. Dragging the noisy device toward him, he sank onto his back again. It seemed to take him an eternity to move the phone up to his ear and flip it open. He was moving mechanically, keeping his thoughts and sensations to a carefully controlled roar in the back of his head.

"Yeah," he grunted into the mouthpiece. He didn't recognize his own voice. The effort of speaking made him suddenly want to retch. He swallowed instead and waited for an answer.

"Dark? This is Dark, right?" Satoshi's voice shot out, waiting for an answer. When he didn't get one, he continued. "You've got a shitload of explaining to do. I'm not joking, Dark, there'd better be one hell of a reason why Krad's not sealed. Or did you just lie to me from the beginning? Start talking, damnit!"

"Yeah… 'Course I lied. You missed him, you would have gotten your ass killed," Dark said finally, needing to concentrate on the movement of his lips in order to enunciate clearly. His voice was scratchy and raw, like he was talking through someone else's throat. He made an effort to sit up, but quickly dismissed the idea. His body felt like one big ache.

"Missed him? Are you out of your mind! If you'd told me the truth, I could have made sure you two never met. Everyone knows about you now! Not just Dark Mousy, but Krad as well. Now it will take a miracle to get Daisuke back."

"How would you have prevented this?" Dark challenged. Satoshi was silent. "You don't have an answer. You would've tried to find him, talk to him. Right?" Dark heaved onto his side, trying to pull more air into his burning lungs. "Don't be stupid. He'd have killed you before he cooperated with your little chat."

"So now you know all there is to know about Krad's propensities?"

"More than you," Dark sighed.

"How do you know? Why do you have to look down on people all the time, you arrogant, underhanded jerk! If you don't need anyone's input, then don't expect my help from now on."

There was a long pause, long enough that Satoshi almost thought the angel had hung up. "Did you meet him?" Dark's voice finally came through the connection, so quiet and close to the microphone that Satoshi could hear something wrong with the angel's breathing.

"Yes," he returned coldly.

"Did he try to kill you?"

Satoshi frowned, thinking through what had happened in silence. "Yeah, he did."

Time stretched out for what seemed like minutes between them. Dark had won his point, but wasn't especially happy about it. He felt sick and disoriented. "Me too. Are you hurt?" he asked.

"Just scrapes," Satoshi sighed, leaning his head back against the wall of the brightly lit corridor he was standing in. "I'm at the hospital."

"Why?"

"I had to make a delivery. Some kid that got hurt in the quake. I called Riku, she's on her way to the school to look for you two, so just stay out of sight till she gets there," Satoshi said.

"Riku's still on crutches." Dark tried not to remember the bizarre dream he'd just seen. Why would he even dream that?

"Are you saying someone needs to be carried?" Satoshi demanded, his voice hardening again.

"I'll wait ten minutes."

Dark narrowed his eyes at the phone as it clicked off, then dropped it tiredly at his side.

Risa…where was Risa? He pushed himself up to a sitting position, his muscles shifting like a sack of rocks. His wings folded intact behind his back, the ends of his flight feathers curling against the cool ground. The angel sat still for a moment, wondering again if he was going to be sick right there on the grass. He shoved the urge aside in irritation, looking around for signs of the girl.

He realized in that instant that he wasn't just nauseous from pain; in fact, as sore as he was, he wasn't that badly hurt. He was scared. His head finally cleared enough to remember exactly what happened earlier. The earthquake, the building collapsing…and Risa was nowhere in sight. What did that mean? They couldn't have landed that far apart.

With a soft grunt, he pushed up onto his feet and looked around. "Risa!" he tried shouting, without much success. It sounded like a horse was standing on his chest. He straightened up and walked a wide circle from the place he'd fallen. Some bits of stone had rolled this far from the collapsed building, but for the most part, the grass was soft and unbroken. She'd definitely gone down with him, so where was she? He steeled himself and called out again, a little stronger this time.

"D….Dark?" a trembling voice came from over his head. Dark's gaze shot up into the thick branches above him. At first he didn't see her, but a rustling of leaves drew his gaze over to the end of a thick limb. Risa was on her stomach on the limb, clinging to it for dear life with arms and legs. She spotted him and smiled in embarrassment. "I'm having some trouble," she tried to wave at him, and wound up slipping upside down like a monkey. "Aw, come on," she muttered, hugging the limb fiercely.

The dark angel's eyes widened, relief coming so thick in his blood that his knees almost folded under him. Instead, his practical side took over. It usually did, and he was grateful. His eyes measured the distance up to her location. She was too high for him to ask her to jump into his arms. "Don't move, monkey girl. I'm coming up," he called to her, jogging over to the base of the tree. He grasped onto the trunk with his hands and walked slowly up the side, holding himself up arm over arm until he got to the first limb. His muscles protested the movement, but obeyed him as he climbed into the tree. He grabbed that first low branch and pulled himself up over it, drawing a few deep breaths before leaping up to the next branch and rising up swiftly toward her place in the tree.

"Be careful," she said as Dark took the climb much faster than she was comfortable watching. Within a matter of seconds, he'd made his way out onto the branch just beneath her, standing on it as if he weren't fifteen feet up off the ground.

"Let go," Dark said, reaching up and placing his hands around her waist.

"Don't drop me," she murmured as his strong hands encircled her. She slowly let go of the branch and sank back against the warm safety of his chest. "Jeez, you're calling me a monkey," she said.

"Sorry, that was wrong of me," Dark said, balancing himself carefully with the girl's weight in his arms.

Risa breathed in the scent of his skin, smiling at his apology.

"Monkeys know how to climb," Dark clarified, smirking. The girl narrowed her eyes, and was about to rebuke when the angel said "Put your arms around my neck." She blinked and did so slowly, tightening her arms above the warm, sweating muscles of his shoulders. His skin felt hot through her clothes and he smelled rather pleasantly of sweat and feathers and grass. Dark shifted her so that the front of her body hugged his side, his strong arm looping under her bottom to hold her against his torso like a seat.

Risa had a moment for it to occur to her that this was surprisingly comfortable, before a glare suddenly grew in her eyes. "You're touching my butt," she scolded, digging her nails into his shoulders because she didn't dare fight him beyond that while they were this high over the ground.

"I need my other arm to get us down," Dark defended, keeping his hand right where he'd put it and edging back over to the central trunk of the tree. "Jeez, don't get crazy ideas," he muttered, but he kept his face down as he crouched and made his descent one branch at a time, each movement jostling her soft weight against his bare side. He was blushing. Crap.

"Risa? Risa, we're down," Dark's voice said cautiously. They'd reached the ground at last. Dark had released his supporting arm so that her legs lowered and found the grass, and she was standing under her own weight, but she still hadn't let go of her fierce grip on his neck. Her warm contours were so real against him that he was on the verge of panic. "Risa…" he tried again, wondering if he should try to pull her off.

"I was scared," her voice came in a trembling whisper beneath his ear, muffled in the crevice of his shoulder. "I was so scared…" Her body shook, and he realized she was crying.

"I'm sorry. Were you stranded there long?" Dark said more cautiously.

"I'm fine, I'm barely scratched, you...stupid…stupid Dark!" she said, her voice distorted by tears.

Dark shook his head. "I don't understand."

"I saw you hit the ground. You…_bounced_, and then you were so still. For two hours, _so still._"

"You thought I died," Dark frowned. Her embrace was so intense that he felt nervous, trapped. She was trying to make him face things, emotions he couldn't handle right now. It felt like the ground would fall out from under him if she went any further. "Thank you for worrying about me, but I'm okay now. We're both okay. Lucky thing the ground here is so soft. Couldn't pick a better place to fall two stories, really."

"No, you're not," Risa said. Her grip eased, as if she could tell it was alarming him, but her hands slid up to cup his jaw, and she looked up at him with deep, deep brown eyes. "You're not okay."

Dark felt his expression wilt. "What do you mean?" he said, and he didn't like how raw his voice had suddenly gone, like his throat had been torn open and he was barely keeping the wound shut. He looked down at her, his expression locked down so tightly that it made her teeth hurt to watch.

Risa shook her head, keeping her chin raised toward his, but her eyes squeezed shut, full of tears. "I know, I know you aren't going to let yourself cry. So I'm going to cry for you," She said softly, leaning forward against him so that her head rested on his shoulder and her soft, tangled hair ran down his chest. A hot tear rolled off her cheek and scalded down under his arm.

Dark gave a short, proud laugh. It died on the air like sand. "It would be easier if you didn't do this," he said. _Let me ignore it a little longer; I can't do this now._

Risa could hear the anger and fear in his voice. She knew he might not forgive her for disrupting his private pain. "Sorry, but I won't let you be alone," she said firmly.

And so she cried, cried for his sake, cried for things lost and things that could never be. She cried tears of frustration and loneliness for a solitude stretched so long that it might never be filled again. She cried tears of hope that fell in crystal trails across the tanned skin of his crippled body. She cried, and cried, and he held her very still, like a ship caught in a storm, while his dry eyes watched the sun set.

**-oOoOo-**

Daisuke groaned as the bright, antiseptic whiteness of the test room bled back into his vision. His fingers rose up in a half-daze to rub the sleep from his eyes, and found tears tracing his cheeks.

"Bad dreams?" Trap asked, his even voice drawing Daisuke's gaze to the chair next to the medical cot he was lying on. The scientist was wearing a black button shirt, his tan hair pulled back and neatly secured in a slender ponytail behind his head. As always, Trap's handsomely angled face and general demeanor reminded Daisuke of a snake. The endlessly calm, emotionless poise of the scientist's grey eyes served to calm the boy's struggling pulse somewhat.

"Yeah," Daisuke muttered. "You were there too," he teased. The man gave an odd look, as he always did when Daisuke spoke to him of feelings and dreams. Daisuke liked that look; it was one of the only predictable mannerisms the scientist had. "I mean you were in the dream," he clarified, and saw that his explanation didn't mean much to the man. As far as he could tell, the scientist saw dreams only as magnetic scratches on his machine's readout. If Trap understood emotions in any sense beyond the brainwave patterns they produced, he did a damned good job of hiding it. Daisuke had never seen him show so much as a flicker of emotion or human interest, despite spending hours each day cooperating with his experiments.

"I wasn't the only one in the dream," Trap said, holding out the readout for the boy to see.

Daisuke propped himself up on one arm, careful not to dislodge the IV that was running into his wrist. The drugs had been engineered to enhance the mental receptors that Trap had most closely linked with the boy's connection to Dark. Daisuke had had his doubts, but looking at the readout Trap was holding, his breath caught in his throat. He'd learned enough to have a basic understanding of what he was seeing. His thought patterns scrawled out in a wide, haphazard graph across the top half of the page. And there, at the bottom were the lower frequencies which normally ran flat, except for the occasional small fluctuations that purportedly represented his lingering connection to Dark's thoughts. Only this time, the bottom lines weren't flat. They scrawled and plummeted _exactly_ in proportion to Daisuke's own thoughtwaves above them.

"What is this?" Daisuke almost whispered.

"Your readout for the last ten minutes," Trap said.

Daisuke gave the scientist his best 'Duuuhhhh' glare. "Yeah, what does it mean?"

"It means your thoughts synchronized with the Black Wings in the closest match recorded yet."

"You're saying we had the same dream?" Daisuke said, and the skepticism was sour enough to taste in his voice.

"Are you saying you didn't? The dream was completely your own?" Trap questioned.

Daisuke looked down at his lap. It was times like these when he was certain Trap understood more than he let on about dreams and emotions. "Some of it was definitely mine, but other parts…they made no sense. Like I was fighting myself."

Trap crossed his arms, his pressed black shirt wrinkling across the front. "I don't have an explanation yet, either, but this is noteworthy progress." At that moment, his eyes should have held that flicker of intensity that scientists invariably have when they realizing they're nearing a breakthrough, but Trap's remained empty of expression. "If the effects of the medicine are refined further, it's very possible the other consciousness could be drawn back to your body."

Daisuke's expression drained to something close to fear. "You said you wanted to separate his consciousness from my body, not rejoin it to me."

The man just looked at the boy with those empty silver eyes that explained absolutely nothing he was thinking. "You have come to resent the Black Wings' power. You don't view it as a gift?" he asked coldly.

"I want to see Dark again as much as anyone does," Daisuke said quietly. "He's trapped somewhere, and if there's a way to set him free, of course I want to. But not if it means being an alter ego. I never want that again."

"Because you wish to be the sole presence in your own mind," Trap said methodically, as if reciting something he'd been told before and memorized, not necessarily understood.

"Where is Riku?"

Daisuke's firm question made Trap blink, tilting his head in that brief confusion he sometimes showed. "Your female acquaintance?" he clarified.

"Is she dead? I saw Shira throw her over the cliff railing. I need to know what happened to her."

Trap frowned for a second. "Very well, I will have Shira-"

"Not Shira, Trap. She'll placate me. I need to _know._ He stared at Trap's vacant eyes sternly. "Please."

Trap frowned. Daisuke thought it was the first time he'd seen the man do so. Suddenly Trap's voice dropped so low that Daisuke had to hold his breath to hear it. "I will look into it," he said, his lips barely moved as he spoke, and something in his eyes told Daisuke not to speak or react to his words. "She is in our care until you serve your purpose. That is all you need to know," he continued, in his usual volume and tone of cold, perfect indifference.

"Oh," Daisuke said, because he was too stunned to think of anything better. Trap stood, moving away from him to check his IV and write some notes in his log. Some ten minutes later, when the scientist left, as always without so much as a wave, Daisuke had time to ponder what had just happened. For less than a second, Trap's eyes had shown something. He couldn't place what emotion it was, but _something._ There was something real inside Trap's head, be it virtue or vice, and Daisuke hadn't seen it long enough to tell what it was.

Then what was the rest of it? The unshakable coldness he'd seen flawlessly presented since he'd first encountered the scientist couldn't possibly be a show. No one could hide their humanity _that_ well, not all the time. It would drive a person insane to deny their real nature that completely. Trap was more of a puzzle than ever, but real or not, Daisuke felt something his dream had almost deprived him of. He had hope.

Something big was about to change.

He could feel it.

**-oOoOo-**

**There. It. Goes. **_**Intense**_ **chapter to write. I hope some of it came through for you guys. I have fan art in store to go with this chapter that I'll link to later. Incidentally, if anyone else should ever want to make fan art of this story I would certainly link that as well/love to see it. Any takers?**

DragonLadyRelena – You rock! _Thank you_ for all your feedback! I'm thrilled you tried out that song; as far as I know you're the only one to test the theory. I know very little about earthquakes besides what anyone would get from a college geography class and a mild interest in architecture, so it's really interesting to hear what I wrote compared with someone's real experiences. Actually, if you feel like it, I'd love to hear more about your experience and what it was like. I don't know anyone who's been through an earthquake, but I'd like to add more details to that chapter if I had more hehe. Give me an email sometime if you can and tell me about it!

Farewell-Goodnight – Thanks for reviewing! I'm happy Krad's working out. I'm surprised myself at how much I'm enjoying writing his parts, as they got off to a slow start. And he's in for some action in the next few chapters (cackle).

Yeye – Thank you! Jirou's a little out of commission for now, but he'll be back hehe. So glad you like it, don't be a stranger!

"Silent reviewer Hisa" – I know you don't review that often, so thanks for taking the time to comment! Your point about Krad's history is a good one. So far, the story has sort of assumed, the way the show did, that Krad just happens to be evil for no particular reason, but I do have a theory now, so I'll try to get it in there at some point lol. Hope you continue to read, and I'll try to check out your story soon!

Iheartkenji – Wow, thanks! I better perform now to stay ranked with these people!

Stormshadow13 – I'm glad the Krad/Satoshi/Jirou scene worked out. It was a blast to write. Oh man, I know Dark's gonna see Hattori again but _Krad_? Now there's an interesting concept. And as for this – _"I hope that Jirou talks to Sato and maybe Sato will change his mind about the blond." _I like the way you think hehe. You can count on his playing a role in connecting Sato and Krad later hehe. Thank you for reviewing as ALWAYS!

Horselvr4evr – So good to hear you're liking it! Thanks for reviewing!

Bansheegrrl – Thanks for your review! Yeah, I killed that kid good (lol). I'm horrible. Poor Krad couldn't hold out his impression of the incredible hulk.

Bunny Grl – It's really good to hear that the change feels natural for Krad. Tricky developing new shades to his personality! Thanks so much for reading and for your comments : )

**-Love, Kat**


	17. Time to Choose

Riku waited impatiently while the phone rang, spinning one of her crutches on its axis as she

**Part 17: **

**Time to Choose**

oOoO-0-OoOo

_**Hello all!**__**I'm so sorry about how long this chapter took to come out. I've gotten settled down into a good, permanent job now and moved to a new apartment, so I think I'm good to update this much more regularly. For those poor, wonderful people who have been waiting coughfourmonthscough for this chapter, here is a tiny recap:**_

_While waiting to see if he could recover the use of his wings, Dark agreed to go with Risa to a local high school festival. Incidentally, this was also the high school of Krad's human acquaintance, Jiro, who managed to talk Krad into making an appearance at the event. It didn't take long for Dark and Krad to notice each other's presence, and soon they were battling in the center of a fleeing crowd. Matters went from bad to worse when an earthquake brought the fight to a necessary halt. _

_Driven by unexpected sympathy for Jiro, who had become trapped under debris, Krad made an effort to extract the boy, only to be discovered mid-task by Satoshi. The two formed an uneasy alliance to perform the rescue and appeared to be working together, but Krad dropped the structure without warning, nearly killing Satoshi and the boy and leaving another dying child trapped. The resulting argument ended in a draw as Krad stood down and Satoshi left to bring the injured Jiro to a hospital. _

_Meanwhile, Dark discovered that the missing Risa was trapped on the bell tower at the top of the collapsing school building. Though he managed to reach her in time, his wings were unable to fly them both to the ground safely, and they took the fall for the last two stories. After surviving their fall, they now wait for Riku to arrive at the park to retrive them._

**-o-o-O-o-O-O-o-O-o-o-**

Dark drew a slow, deep breath and let it out. The sun had fallen below the horizon now, and the air was slowly acquiring a chill. Muted sirens rang in the distance as the city dealt with the aftermath of the earthquake. Risa was sitting very still next to him, huddled under his arm. Her breathing had finally calmed to a soft, shallow rhythm, and her tears were trying in salty tracks on her cheeks.

She looked exhausted, and he felt the same way. After all, she'd been crying for his sake, and he still didn't know if that made him mad, depressed, or relieved. He didn't feel pitiful, and he didn't want to be pitied. On the other hand, he didn't want to be alone either. But he wasn't ready yet to panic. It was just a matter of getting his wing host back, if he was still alive. And getting his wings to fly again…then figuring out what to do with himself in a mortal body, and making sure Krad didn't cause any more trouble.

The problems ran up like a to-do list in his mind, surrounded by scrambled webs of rational solutions and probably outcomes. He'd been able to approach it all like some kind of machine repair, reducing his life to simple terms of cogs and gears,

Until a few minutes ago.

A few minutes ago, Risa had started crying, for him, and as he'd awkwardly held her, wishing she would stop, his logical world had stopped making sense. Like an air conditioner in January, it had simply ceased to apply.

"What are you thinking about?" Risa's voice, a little raw from her tears, drifted up from next to him.

Dark looked down at the top of her head. She was looking straight forward, possibly at the ruined school building. He tried to think of what he was thinking about. "This might not make any sense to you, but I think my thoughts made more sense when they were jumbled with someone else's."

Risa paused, apparently thinking that one over in her head. "You know…Dark, with people, we don't have any wing hosts or soulmates to magically bind to our minds and understand us," she said very tentatively. She even looked up and met his eyes, monitoring his expression. "I can't imagine what it's like to lose something like that…but with normal people, we just…We have to tell each other what we're thinking." She had begun talking with her eyes closed without realizing it. She cracked one lid open to see what Dark thought of her words.

The angel had his head cocked slightly to the side, expression blank. "Risa, I, uh, knew that," he carefully stated the obvious, wondering what in the world she was getting at but being careful not to embarrass her.

"No, I know you know that," Risa floundered. "But what I'm trying to say is that you, when you feel things, and you don't have a wing host, you have to tell people about them."

Dark blinked. "What? Why should I do that?"

"So that they know!"

"How is that necessary?"

Risa stared at him in disbelief. "If no one else knows how you're feeling, that's when people go crazy, that's why," she half-scolded him.

The angel spent a few moments to attempt understanding. "Risa, I'm not human. I'm not even sure it's possible for me to go crazy."

Risa threw up her hands, giving up. "I had no idea how sociopathic you were. No wonder we didn't work."

Dark registered what she meant by 'we' and emptied his face of expression. "It was more complicated than that."

She immediately wished she hadn't brought it up. The heat radiating from his mortal body beside her abruptly came to the fore of her senses, and her stomach tightened. "Sorry," she murmured.

"Just rest," Dark sighed. "If your sister's not here in two minutes, we'll make our own way."

**-o-o-O-o-O-O-o-O-o-o-**

Riku combed her fingers through her bangs tensely while the phone rang, spinning one of her crutches on its axis on the white kitchen tile. She sat on a barstool next to the counter, her good foot perched on the top rung of the stool while her cast-bound leg hung unsupported. She ground her teeth while the phone rang again. Her nerves showed on her face, and in this setting, they seemed out of place. Her house was spacious and neat, brightly lit by wide picture windows, the same as always. There was a lingering smell of a chicken roast that had been made the night before. Finally, a click sounded on the other end of the line. "Satoshi, are you there?" she prodded.

"Hey. I'm here. Did you find them?" his voice came across after a moment's pause. A bit tense on his end also, she noticed, though she didn't particularly care at the moment. Then again, it could have been his normal voice.

"They're with me. We're waiting for you back at my place."

"Thanks for going all that way," Satoshi's voice said tiredly.

"On foot, with crutches, yeah, no problem. These two are scraped up pretty badly, too. Not like it would make more sense to walk them the quarter mile to your apartment, or anything." Riku's voice picked up. Her sarcasm seemed to lend her some energy.

"I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important," Satoshi said, knowing he'd asked a large favor of her to make the trip to the school while injured. "I can't be positive, but probably, that whole crowd at the school has seen Krad's fight with Dark. As soon as the city's power is back up, Gorudo is going to hear about it, and it's going to raise a lot of questions. If he sends someone looking for me, I don't feel like explaining why Dark Mousy is sipping tea in my living room."

"You can explain it to me later. Just tell me when you'll be here. Please say you're not still at the hospital."

"I had to pick someone up. I should be there in five minutes. How are those two?"

Riku sighed impatiently. She turned in her chair and held the phone out into the room.

"Ouch! Be gentle, I'm wounded, jeez!" Risa's shrill voice came over the line.

"Stop whining and hold still. It's just antiseptic," Dark's stiff voice snapped.

"Well it _hurts!_ Aaugh, aren't thieves supposed to have steady hands?"

"Not after falling off a building, no!"

"We'd be fine if you hadn't given up mid-flight!"

"I tried, but you're just so _heavy_," Dark groaned.

"_Haah? _I can't believe I cried for you, you butterfingered thief!"

"Who asked you to cry, idiot! …Hey, put that down, I'm not finished cleaning _your_—Gah!"

"How do _you_ like the sting, eh?"

The receiver pulled away from the zoolike commotion and Riku's voice came back on. "That's the situation, so hurry up and get over here!" she snapped, and hung up.

Looks like we're on our own for a while," Riku said to her two feuding wards as she returned her phone to her purse. "Risa, stop wasting the peroxide," she said, swiping the bottle from her sister, who had used the substance to terrorize her opponent to the ground.

"Riku, he started it!" she protested, backing off a rather defeated-looking dark angel.

"Just…don't touch him. Dark, you should be lying down."

"I am," the angel groaned from his place on the floor.

"Could you please stop fooling around?" Riku huffed. The slowly rising whistle of a tea kettle on the stove cut off the cross remark she was about to issue to the smug thief that had apparently dropped her sister from a bell tower. She rolled her eyes and turned away from them both. Setting the peroxide down on the counter, she hopped to the stove and took the kettle off the flame, pouring it into the three tea mugs lined up on the counter. It was confusing even to her that she could act so calm around other people when her boyfriend had been missing, possibly dead, for the better part of a week. Now, here she was with Dark Mousy in her house, and it was all she could do to be civil. No matter how she looked at it, this situation was all because of him. Risa had to know that too…how could they both stand there bickering so casually?

"You guys are going to have to come over here if you want this. I'm not hopping across the room with hot tea."

Dark groaned as he stretched his sore muscles and got back to his feet. Hot tea sounded pretty good to him at the moment. "Thanks," he said charmingly as he crossed to the counter and picked up a cup.

He still smelled like grass and dirt, and his skin was smudged with debris from the fall. For all his cuts and scrapes, he didn't seem all that hurt. Riku was glad; it made it easier to distance him. The last time she'd seen him had been that night at the park, after Daisuke had been taken. Their parting had been awkward, and though neither of them had discussed it, the uncomfortable atmosphere had picked up where it left off when she'd found him and Risa at the park. To make matters stranger, Dark and her sister had been acting strangely since she found them. What the heck happened before she came?

"It's good," Dark said, watching her thoughtfully as he studied her expression.

Riku twitched, like she was surprised he'd spoken. She turned her look to him and couldn't quite remember what he'd said.

"The tea," Dark clarified, holding up the cup.

"Right. Yeah, of course," she improvised, staring at him like he had three heads. She tried to figure out what was going on behind those eyes, but his expression was as proud and confusing as ever.

"Dark, you do have a plan to get Daisuke back, right?"

The angel took note of the anxious stare Riku was suddenly giving him. The question was sudden, but he'd been expecting it. "Sure I do," he said with a composed grin.

"This isn't a game," Riku said.

"No, it's not," Dark agreed evenly. "I know what I'm doing."

It was pretty obvious that Riku's next question was going to be a frustrated "How?", but at that moment, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Risa said, seeming grateful for an excuse to get away from the awkward conversation.

Dark turned his head and could hear the muffled voices of Risa and Satoshi meeting in the front hall, followed by the telltale silence of what was probably a kiss. He held back a grimace as the pair re-entered the room with their hands interlocked. There was something distinctly uncomfortable about the way the two touched, like it took careful tact on both their parts to keep their fingers woven between them. Why did that irk him so much? Satoshi made eye contact with him briefly, giving him a dull salute with his free hand. Dark nodded his acknowledgment and held to a safe, blank expression.

"Oh, please hold your applause till the end," another voice called the angel's attention back to the doorway. Hattori was strolling into the room, his thumbs hooked casually into the pockets of tan slacks. From the long, wet brown hair that was hanging untied around the man's shoulders and soaking dark tracks into his green shirt, he'd shown up on some rather short notice. Dark returned the veterinarian's sarcastic smile with a scowl that he was rather grateful to have an excuse to release. Hattori's grin widened slightly. "Oh dear, the birdman's in a bad mood. What is it? You need some sunflower seeds?" he urged sharply, cupping his hand to his ear.

Dark rewarded the comment with a flat stare and silence. Hattori walked up to the angel with his hand still glued to the side of his head and leaned exaggeratedly toward him. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me. Chirp once for yes, twice for no."

"Why _exactly_ are you here?" Dark broke in with a stiff smile.

"Well, let's see…It could be that I just wanted to light up your day. But probably it's because Mr. Positive over here insisted I was needed. Goodness only knows why; you seem to be as nauseatingly healthy as ever," Hattori mused, rubbing his chin.

Dark's sardonic grin drifted without warning into something almost grim. "I see." The angel's odd change of tone left the veterinarian without any witty response and won attentive stares from Risa and Riku. If Satoshi had a reaction, it was hard to make out through his flatline expression.

Risa released Satoshi's hand and crossed over to where the Angel stood. "I don't know what your problem is," she said, turning on Hattori with her hands set on her hips, "but if you haven't heard, we've just had a very hard day. Would it kill you to show a little tact?"

"Yes, probably," the man concurred, but it was clear from the disappearance of his ever-present smirk that he'd noticed something was up.

"That's not funny," Risa said stubbornly. "You should understand better than anyone what he's lost, so stop being mean." The words had made it out of her mouth already when she realized that Dark might not want his emotions to become a matter of public discussion. She glanced back over her shoulder at him just in time to actually see the color drain from his face. Great…why was she always doing the wrong thing with him?

Hattori didn't miss the odd exchange between them. "Fine," he sighed. "I'll play nice with your boyfriend here."

"He's not my boyfriend. Satoshi is," Risa flared up, unfortunately sounding a little too defensive.

Hattori gave her a hard look, and both Dark and Satoshi noticed her expression falter. "Alright," Hattori said in a new tone, to change the subject. Suddenly he seemed to be actually attempting to defuse the situation.

"It's alright, Hattori," Satoshi said flatly. "The idea has already been explored," his eyes flicked to Dark, "and proven infeasible."

"Satoshi, that's unnecessary," Risa hissed, embarrassed and annoyed.

"If it is, then why are you over there defending him like a mother hen? In case you didn't notice, he doesn't need it," Satoshi returned.

"Hiwatari, we need to speak," Dark interjected firmly. "In private."

The room fell silent as the two men's eyes locked. Satoshi gave the faintest of nods. "In here, then," he gestured into an adjoining room that was generally used as a den. Without another word, Dark followed Satoshi through the doorway and closed it behind them, leaving the girls and the veterinarian in stunned silence.

"What in the...?" Risa murmured. She stared at the closed door and thought.

"They aren't fighting over you...Dark's got to know better than that, right?" Riku asked quietly, hobbling forward to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her sister.

"I really couldn't see that happening. From either of them," Risa responded. The faint ache in her voice didn't match the calm-set expression she wore as she said it.

"No, Satoshi definitely got jealous just now," Riku asserted, suddenly feeling protective of her sister. "And that perverted thief just doesn't like to lose, so he followed suit."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Hattori butted in, speaking in a low voice. He'd dropped into one of the kitchen chairs and was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and fingers clasped casually between his legs. His wet hair dripped irreverently on the kitchen tile.

"Can I get you a hair dryer or something?" Riku snapped at him.

"As a man, I believe my perception of the situation bears some weight," the vet shrugged. "And that looked like good ol' male rivalry. Can't say I really blame him, with the way you just cuddled up to birdboy."

"What? I was not cuddling!"

"Close enough. That true about you and him being a former item?"

Risa set her gaze sternly. "A _long_ time ago, there was…something, but we were never together."

"Meaning what? You never kissed?"

"It was one-sided," Risa returned sourly.

"And if it hadn't been one-sided, then what?" Hattori crossed his arms expectantly.

"What do you mean, 'Then what'?" she shot back.

The vet leaned forward on his elbows and looked her in the eye. "I mean, if it wasn't one-sided, what would have happened?"

Risa blushed and did her best to look indignant rather than embarrassed. As obvious as the answer was, not only was that an awkward question to answer for a near-stranger, but it was hard to say in front of her sister and even harder to admit to herself.

"That would make it two-sided, then, idiot. Don't ask the obvious," Riku broke in on behalf of her flustered sister.

Hattori nodded as if he'd made a point, which left both girls giving him annoyed stares. "Since it's that obvious, I trust it's not a shock to you that Hiwatari would be able to draw the same logical deduction. So quit acting so damn confused that it shows up on his radar when you get bent out of shape protecting Dark.

"Dark's always protected us!" Risa growled as fiercely as she could without being heard in the next room.

"Oh really? One in enemy custody, possibly dead, your sister's ankle is broken, and you're like a bruised banana. If you ask me, his track record these past few days doesn't look so hot."

Silence filled the room. Risa felt a distinct urge to launch her teacup at the veterinarian's head, though she knew that wouldn't help. She exercised what she considered admirable restraint and decided not to respond.

But then Hattori followed up in a surprisingly sober tone. "You'd be best off not viewing people as heroes. Not Dark, not Satoshi, and not your friend Daisuke. It's too much to ask a real person to pull off.

The vet's words sounded so rooted in personal experience that Risa had to forget her anger for the moment. She stared at Hattori and tried to guess why he would say something like that so seriously. The stone-faced look in his eyes told her she wasn't getting a voluntary answer any time soon, and she wasn't feeling fond enough of him to try anyway.

There was still no sound making it to them from the next room. Risa wished she knew what was going on there. She and Riku took seats on the stools next to Hattori at the island counter, sitting idly in a manner more appropriate to a hazy bar than the Harada kitchen. Risa set her mind to exploring the pattern on the window drapes, waiting uneasily.

It wasn't until ten minutes later that the door swung open. Dark emerged, followed by Satoshi, their footsteps breaking the long silence. Satoshi looked tense; Dark was hard to read.

"Is everything alright?" Riku ventured as the two men stopped in front of them.

"The Gorudo corporation is sending an escort here any minute now," Dark said.

Risa's eyes grew large. "What? Why?" Her stomach was making a valiant effort to climb toward her feet.

Hattori blinked. "Check me if I'm wrong, but Gorudo's the one who abducted Daisuke. He's the bad guy here. And you just…gave them our location and invited them for tea?"

"Gorudo's building is extremely secure and I'm not familiar with the layout. If I want to find Daisuke, the first step is to get inside," Dark said confidently. If he was feeling uncomfortable with this plan, it wasn't showing.

"But if you're in custody, how can you help Daisuke?" Risa stammered, horrified by how calm he seemed about this.

"Thief, remember? Have some faith," the angel smirked.

"Satoshi, you can't actually be serious about this?" Risa turned to her boyfriend desperately. "What if they kill him?"

Satoshi shook his head. "I can think of a lot of reasons for them to want Dark, but I don't see killing him as one of them." Unlike Dark, thin stress lines were there around Satoshi's eyes. Jealous or not, he knew this was a gamble.

"You're not going there alone," Risa said firmly, looking back at Dark. "We should all go."

"No," Dark ordered calmly, but with clear authority. "I might not be able to keep the rest of you safe without my wings, and our agreement was to go alone." He looked at Risa's panic-stricken expression and tried to calm her with a reassuring grin. "I need the rest of you to support me from outside. Okay?"

Hattori frowned. "Not to be blunt, but how could we send you in, when we don't even know if Daisuke is alive? Shouldn't we be asking them to return him to us first?"

Dark shook his head, fighting the thought that Daisuke really might be dead. "Hostage exchanges are too messy and almost always unstable. I'm sure you've seen enough movies to know that. We can't afford that level of unpredictability, especially with the rest of you nearby. And since I don't intend to stick around there, unless I take care of this from inside the company, they'll just come after Daisuke again when I leave."

Riku tilted her head, a little impressed. "That actually made…a lot of sense," she murmured, winning a sour "thanks-so-much" glance from the angel. "So if we're really doing this, what do you need from us?"

Dark looked around at all of them approvingly. He reached into the pocket of his torn pants and produced a black, slightly flattened ovular stone about the size of two quarters. "This stone belonged to the Hikaris. I stole it once, a long while back. It was intended to be a kind of superior mood stone that could convey the thoughts of its owner, but it can be used as a communicator. If I give it information about myself," he said, pulling a feather from near his shoulder, "The person holding it should be able to hear everything I hear."

He held the stone flat in the palm of his left hand and touched the tip of the feather to the stone. The feather immediately floated from his hand, surrounded by a soft glow, and oriented itself vertically above the stone. Dark murmured a few quiet words that didn't sound quite like standard Japanese, and the feather "sank" into the stone, leaving the whole object with a faint, pulsing aura.

Looking up from his work, he turned to Risa and extended the stone to her. "I need you, Riku, and Hattori to stay near the Gorudo building with this. Stay on the street, and listen for instructions from me when it's time to break out."

"Whoah, whoah," Hattori interrupted. "Exactly how long do you expect me to sit in some van waiting for you to attempt to escape? Days? Weeks? The Gorudo corporation is ruthless, and it's taken a lot of luck for me to stay off their books. Frankly, I'll admit you hold a lot of scientific interest for me, but if you're this likely to be killed or kept, I hardly see the motivation to close my practice for god knows how long."

Dark rolled his eyes. "Fine, but if I leave injured, I'm seeking the services of a new vet."

Hattori ground his teeth and stared at his prize specimen. After a pause, he conceded, "I've got a van with tinted windows that should be secure. The three of us will stake out in that."

"Three? What about Satoshi?" Riku asked Dark.

"Satoshi will stay out of the area. He can provide you with information and help remotely." He took note of the girls' confused expressions and looked to Satoshi.

The young Hiwatari explained. "The Gorudo group knows me personally, and after the incident at the school, it's very probable that they'll be seeking me out. So far, we're fairly sure they don't know of any connection between me and Daisuke. That means I'm the only one of us who stands a chance of obtaining information from Gorudo. To operate diplomatically in these circumstances, I need to have the safety and maneuverability of distance." He met Risa's worried eyes. "I'll be in regular contact with you by phone," he said.

"Dark, you said that stone will tell us what's going on, but what if we need to talk to you?" Riku said, trying to wrap her head around the big picture.

"Hopefully you won't. If you do, you'll have to be creative," Dark said. "The stone only works one-way. I'm sure Satoshi could borrow a bug from the police department, but I wouldn't get past the front door without them removing it, and the equipment could be tracked back to its source, which would compromise Satoshi's safet—."

Everything fell silent as five sharp, rapid knocks sounded on the front door. Apparently, doorbells weren't aggressive enough for the Gorudo group. The unexpected noise made everyone in the room flinch slightly. Satoshi quickly collected himself, gave Dark a nod, and left the room, making his way to a private location on the second floor.

No one made a move for the door, so Dark walked down the hall, gesturing for the others to stay back in the kitchen. The knock resumed in the form of a vigorous pounding just as he reached the door. He turned the lock and threw it open, crossing his arms. The knocker, a tall, bald-headed man wearing a suit with the Gorudo emblem, arrested his hand in mid-motion and stared in mild shock.

"Dark Mousy?" he asked with a voice that could drill through glass, though it was blatant that the lean, winged figure standing calmly in front of him was the target he'd come to pick up. Two more similarly-dressed men stood behind him with equally uncertain expressions. "I heard you were turning yourself in, but I'll admit I didn't quite expect you to open the front door," he noted coldly.

"I was a bit surprised I opened it myself. Usually people ring the bell," the angel observed crassly.

"Fair enough," the man noted, his hand going to his hip. Too fast to see, he grabbed something at his side and drew it up toward Dark's neck. A squeak of fear came from the other end of the hallway as Risa watched. In the same instant, there was a flurry of motion, and then Dark was standing with one hand clenched around the pistol barrel, which had been safely directed upward. A dart, presumably drugged, stuck obscenely from the top of the doorframe. Riku pulled her sister, who seemed ready to scream, back from the hallway entrance, holding a hand over her mouth.

"What part of "willing to go" didn't you understand?" Dark hissed in irritation.

"We've studied your methods, Mr. Mousy," the suit said. "We each carry ID clearance for the Gorudo Corporation building. You will not have the opportunity to take them, you will not overhear our conversation, and you will not be conscious to map out the building while we bring you into custody. Now, we could do this the easy way, or the hard way," he said. On cue, the two men behind him each produced a pair of Berettas and pointed them squarely at Dark's head.

"I think you've got this wrong. I'm not pulling anything, I'm turning myself in to my proper owners," he noted.

The head man leaned in close to Dark's face and spoke in slow, fierce syllables. "If you want to do this, get your hand off of my gun."

Dark narrowed his amethyst eyes. If they were going to be that way, he didn't have much choice. Slowly, he lowered the gun back toward his neck, and his fingers unwound from the barrel. He'd been drugged once. It was not fun, and this time there was no wing host to retreat into while he recovered. Oh well, no point in griping. "Don't expect me to be talkative if you give me the hangover of my life," he disclaimed, lowering his open hands to his sides.

The dart was like of bolt of lightning, followed by what felt like having a sunspot across his entire field of vision. Dark was aware of falling and then being caught, though he didn't really feel the men's hands supporting him. In a matter of seconds, the only thing he was conscious of was the odd sensation that his windpipe was jammed with wool socks. He attempted to cough, but couldn't hear if he was successful or not. He hoped the idiots hadn't overdosed him. A moment later, he sank into blackness.

**-o-o-O-o-O-O-o-O-o-o-**

_To be continued very soon! Some time in the next 10 days or so. I promise! Next chapter: Krad. Dark's not the only one getting himself into deep shit. For those of you who take interest in fan art, I did attempt to photoshop a drawing of the fight from chapter 15 (Dark and Krad). It's up on devart ID: Maiysokat, or you can find the link on my profile here._

_**Shout Outs!**_

Whateveri'mcalled, Peppymint, Iheartcandy, and cherryt – Thanks for reviewing! Your comments made me so motivated!

Stormshadow13 – Sorry for skimping on the Krad this chapter, but assuming you're still putting up with me after my protracted absence, I think the next chapter will be to your approval. It might also shed some light on your question about why Krad's the way he is (I liked your take on it, by the way!)

Dark Rose at Twilight – I'm so glad you reviewed, although unfortunately, I'm pretty sure I didn't succeed in updating faster than you (haha). I'm glad you like what's going on with Krad. "Disoriented with life" was an awesome way to describe it.

Relena – My earthquake expert! Thanks so much for your comments. The shit is definitely about to hit the proverbial fan here.

X lost fairytale – Awesome, thanks! I'm glad you found me, and it's really great to have feedback about who's in character, who's interesting, etc. I definitely use it when deciding what happens next.

Polish – Haha, yeah, Daisuke is going to have to reconfigure his head a bit when he realizes Dark's in the realm of the living.

_**Your reviews are what keep me going! Thank you so much for your comments! Those with strong opinions about what you want to see next, this is the time to say it!**_


	18. Lost Goals

Part 18: Lost Goals

_**Hey all. Remember how in Part 1, I said the story would eventually require a rating change? Now is that time. Please be prepared for some less-than-classy language and mature themes in this chapter.**_

The weather was cloudy yet oddly bright, lending a surreal reflective property to the dark streets that had been wetted with rain overnight. Orange barricades and cones still littered the city like an infestation. Now that the workers had gone home to their families for the evening, the abandoned reconstruction sites lent the impression that the city had been left behind for someplace better and more stable.

Krad knew better. He knew he was walking down what amounted to one wet street in one city which, in turn, was a single black dot in a country made up of enough dots to paint the map ebony. Every city the same, crowded and cluttered with the garbage and noise of the humans who inhabited it. Filled with people who could betray, steal, cheat, and torture each other in the names of love, faith, or loyalty. Those without such initiative would scramble through their meaningless lives like ants, eating and excreting and running back and forth like good cogs in a system that would easily replace them when they eventually wore out. A twisted, conceited, perverted race. And still, it saw itself as superior. Proud. Worthy of manipulating other life. Just watching them was enough to raise a sour flavor in the back of the angel's throat.

Yet he was here. He could have been somewhere else, but he was here. Twenty-four hours after the quake and the events at the school, he was walking the human streets. Wrapped in a grey cloak that had been abandoned in the street, with his hair still loose and disheveled from the fight with dark, the angel looked more shell-shocked than he would have liked. A deep purple bruise had formed around his right eye, but it was already beginning to fade. Such things healed easily. His anger did not.

His mind kept retracing the events of the night before. He clung to what remained of the helpless fury that had consumed him afterward, but the longer he dwelled in it, the more frustrated he became. Who was he supposed to be mad at? A week ago, he'd directed all his rage toward the solid goal of revenge - the destruction of his rival and the domination of the crude humans that saw fit to entrap him for centuries. Had he achieved his goal? He'd apparently destroyed Dark's wings and trapped him to the ground for eternity. He'd dropped a building over Satoshi's head. A crowd of thousands had fled from him in terror. Was he done?

From an unpleasant part of his memory came Dark's words to him shortly before they'd escaped the seal. _"And when you're all done killing and avenging, then what?"_

Then what, indeed. But he didn't feel done. He still felt angry.

He paused at the next intersection he came to and examined the street sign, which was standing fifteen degrees off its proper angle. The street belonged to a hospital route and remained open to traffic, unlike many others damaged by the quake. Still, there were no cars to be seen. The sidewalks were nearly empty as well, and those who were out seemed to huddle into themselves as they hurried toward their destinations. At six in the evening, the city seemed to be thrown from its own rhythm.

Krad surveyed the barren streets and squinted up at the hospital, which rose above its neighboring buildings two blocks away. The boy was probably still there. Both of them. He reached up over his shoulder and touched the place behind his shoulderblades where the joints of his folded wings formed a noticeable hump beneath the contour of his cloak. Something in his expression changed as he touched it.

Grimacing, he turned away from the hospital and abruptly set stride in the opposite direction. A wooden crate had been abandoned on the sidewalk. The angel stopped before it and looked at it quietly, as if preparing to step over it. Instead, anger tore through him like an unexpected storm. He reared back and kicked the object full-force. It flew into a neighboring street pole and burst apart, its contents scattering across the street. It wasn't enough. Sucking in a deep breath, he threw his fist into the wall of the building next to him, leaving a crumbling dent in the brick. Fifteen rapid blows later, the angel had produced a significant crater that blew through to the wooden framework of the building. He stared at it, out of breath from the effort and looking a bit stunned by his own outburst. That thought seemed to help his anger cool gradually into exhaustion. Taking a slow step back, his expression washed blank. He turned from the ruined wall and picked up a stiff gait away from the hospital and the barren streetlight.

He hadn't walked more than ten minutes when a near-collision with another pedestrian finally made him slow his pace to take in his surroundings. The man he'd almost crashed into shied out of the way, cursing moodily before pursuing his original course. Krad cupped his hand around a ball of blue energy, but chose not to fire it as his attention shifted to the neighborhood he'd come to. The street the angel stood on showed signs of general disrepair, and it wasn't because of the quake. Across the road was the obnoxious pink neon of a "love hotel", with the "l" burnt out. He was standing in front of a shady-looking tavern and could see several more bars in the coming blocks, illustrated by dimly lit signs. Most other buildings on the strip looked black and unwelcoming, with opaque blinds drawn over the windows.

There was a difference in the atmosphere of this block. There were people out on the streets here, and other than a few cracks in the pavement, there was little evidence that the earthquake had even taken place. It was the atmosphere of a neighborhood that was accustomed to disasters and couldn't be bothered to fuss much over this one. There was little noise beyond what filtered into the street from the establishments. Absorbing the new environment, the angel proceeded slowly down the sidewalk.

He hadn't made it two blocks when he tensed at the sensation of a hand closing on his arm. "Hello, stranger," a woman's voice purred from just behind him.

Krad broke immediately from the woman's grip and caught her wrist. Rather than turn around to see her, he dragged her roughly in front of him and studied her with a hard glare. She was pretty, maybe a little over nineteen, with curly brown hair and crimson lipstick. The leather tube top and skirt she was wearing revealed a curvy figure with just enough muscle to look tough. She was sexy. Unfortunately, the effect seemed lost on the angel. "What?" he demanded.

"Easy, handsome," she said with noteworthy composure, though her brown eyes looked startled. Then she looked up and noticed his face. "Oh, shit," she breathed, staring at him in confusion. "You're gorgeous. And who hit you?"

Krad added distaste to the collection of emotions in his expression. "What do you want?" he hissed.

"Hey, you don't have to be upset. I just thought I'd see if you were feeling lonely tonight," she said, and gave him an experienced smile. Since her words brought a confused look out of the anger in the stranger's face, she relaxed a bit. "…You're hurting my arm, love."

Krad collected his features into a pale frown. "Go away," he ordered, releasing her arm and moving to walk past her.

"Hey, wait," she called, jogging to keep up with him. She kept her hands to herself this time; she was a quick study. "Business is slow tonight. If you're in such a bad mood, then come have a drink with me. I'll make you feel better."

The angel was so frustrated, and her request so absurd, that he actually almost laughed at her. Instead, he shook his head without breaking pace and said, "You have no idea what mood I'm in."

"Of course not, honey. That's why you should come have some wine and tell me about it," she smiled. "I need to make some money tonight. Don't tell me you're going to prowl the streets jumping at people all night, when a beautiful woman right here wants to be with you?" She skipped just ahead of him and blocked his path.

Krad stopped short and stared at her in bafflement. "Do you have a death wish?"

Apparently, the threat didn't faze her. "Do you get off on being alone?" she returned.

"Yes."

"I don't believe you."

Before she could say more, Krad had caught her by the neck and swung her into the wall next to them. She yelped as she slammed into the hard surface, but didn't touch him. "I don't believe you," she repeated hoarsely, looking him dead in the eyes. "Nobody wants to be alone, and nobody comes into this neighborhood unless they've got business here."

He had no idea what she was talking about or trying to prove. Humans were absurdly stubborn about ridiculous things. He squeezed her throat tighter, seriously considering crushing it. She closed her mouth and squirmed faintly under his grip, looking him in the eyes. Brave girl.

Frowning, Krad let go of her neck and stepped back. He was tired of fighting with her. He was so tired in general. He'd been on his feet for most of the past thirty hours. She wanted a drink. In the end, what difference did it really make? "Alright," he said, pinning his fingers to his forehead in frustration. "Lead."

If being choked had alarmed her, she didn't really show it. Straightening up, she gave him a triumphant smile and turned suavely toward a door they'd passed a moment earlier. She knocked on it firmly. A slot in the door opened at eye level, then slid shut again. A moment later, something clicked and the hinge swung open to a dim-lit room with a bar in the corner. A surprising number of human patrons were sitting at tables and booths in the small room. There was no sign of whoever had opened the door. In fact, nobody appeared to pay them any mind as they walked across the bar room. However, apparently, the room wasn't their final destination. There was a narrow staircase in the corner with a red velvet curtain across it. The woman parted the curtain and proceeded up the stairs, looking back several times to make sure her strange entourage was still behind her.

Krad felt almost comfortable in the oddly anonymous atmosphere of the tavern, but followed her up the stairs into a small hallway with several doors. He paused and waited while she produced a key and opened one of the rooms. He walked in behind her and surveyed its contents. There was a large bed, a nightstand, and an adjoining bathroom. In the corner was a small wet bar and glasses.

He stared at the bed for a few seconds, working something out in his head. For some reason, he had absolutely not realized what she was asking him for outside. Now, it was so obvious to him that he was having trouble believing his own oversight. He was neither naïve nor foreign to the concept of sex, but it came as a sudden shock to even conceive of taking part in the act himself. Unlike Dark, he had never taken an interest in having a physical relationship with a human. Of course, he had never had the freedom to pursue one, but he doubted that would have changed things.

"Hey."

Krad glanced up to see that the woman had come back over to him and was watching him curiously.

"You look mad again. Is something wrong with the room?"

"No. I just realized…rather... I do not like humans much," Krad murmured, wondering why he hadn't left yet.

The girl crossed her arms skeptically. "Okay, I've been with the roleplaying type before. What's your flavor? Want me to be an elf? I don't do zombies. Tried that once, and it didn't end well."

The angel blinked. Embarrassment had shifted his demeanor slightly, and though he kept trying to summon anger, it seemed to have run out on him. That, in itself, was unusual. "No. Never mind."

"You're a strange one. Awfully pretty, too. It's a shame about that hump on your back, or you'd be just like a centerfold. I almost mistook you for an old man on the street. Have a drink, you'll feel better. White or red?" She glanced back at him.

"You select the drink," Krad said flatly. She talked far too much. He was trying to decide which concept he was more repelled by at the moment – the alcohol or the sex. Why was he still here?

She squeezed her chin between her fingers and studied him. "Forget the wine. You look like the type who takes whiskey," she announced, selecting a bottle and pouring its contents into two tumblers. Lifting them, she crossed over to the bed and took a seat, holding one drink out to Krad, who was still standing by the open door. "Going to take your coat off and stay a while?" she coaxed.

Krad gave the door a push and let it shut on its own while he approached her. The drink didn't really interest him. Alcohol made the mind less sharp than he liked it to be, but tonight, he had to admit that the thought of turning his brain off for a while was rather tempting. Drinking with a human stranger in a shady hotel room seemed so distant from rationality that it was almost comforting.

He studied the glass in the woman's hand. After a moment's consideration, he took it almost aggressively, tilted his head back, and finished the glass in one deep haul.

"Whoah, whoah! It's not fair to the booze if you drink it that way," she protested in true horror, trying to snatch his tumbler. When he glared at her, she seemed to think better of taking it by force. "Good lord, that's whiskey, not cough syrup," she scolded.

"You could have fooled me," Krad commented with a sour look on his face. His gold eyes were shining from the burn.

That seemed to endear him to her, because her expression softened. "Don't drink very much, do you?"

"I didn't have the opportunity," Krad commented, too distracted by the heat in his throat to afford much thought to his answer.

Her eyes widened. "You've never drank before? You're shitting me." He seemed to be ignoring her, so she smiled and sipped her drink. "How is that possible?" she asked, sounding seriously interested.

The angel afforded her a contemplative stare. Even if he had the desire to answer her, what would he say? "I spent the last few hundred years living captive inside the deranged minds of a line of megalomaniacal artistic geniuses, and now I'm free"? Yeah, right. He walked past her toward the bar and refilled his tumbler.

"Pace yourself, hero," she warned good-naturedly.

Krad took a pointedly civil sip and gave her an acidic look. Unfortunately, this sent her into a helpless fit of laughter.

"My name's Angel," she said when she finally regained the power of speech. She patted the bed next to her.

Krad might have asked if that was her real name, except that it obviously wasn't and he hardly cared what her name was. He didn't particularly want to sit next to her, either. Being laughed at was a new experience for him. He still couldn't quite locate the motivation to rip her throat out, which seemed inconvenient. He wondered if that was him being tired or the alcohol beginning to do its work. He walked back to the bed and sat several feet to Angel's left, mostly because he honestly didn't feel like standing any more.

"Not very talkative, are you?" she asked. "Well, I can get down to business, if that's all you want." She stood up with her back to him and stripped her top off in one curving, luxurious movement. It revealed something Krad hadn't noticed before – a tattoo of a huge pair of feathery wings that folded down the entire length of her back. He was still taking it in when she turned toward him, her bare chest bobbing with practiced grace as she sidled up to stand almost touching his knees. The angel had to look up at her as she walked just in front of him, but not by much. She wasn't particularly tall.

"You have wings," he said, wanting to turn her around without having to touch her. As beautiful as he could acknowledge she was, he really had surprisingly little interest in the front of her body. The tattoo, however, intrigued him.

"Oh, so now you feel like talking?" Angel smiled, spinning around flirtatiously to show him her back at point-blank range. She looked over her bare shoulder at him. "I like birds. I've always wished I could fly."

"They're nice," Krad conceded.

"Do I detect a compliment?" she teased, dropping into the bed next to him.

"You like birds, I like art," he said, aggravated by her enthusiasm.

"Well? Don't you want to touch them?" she said, dropping her eyes to her own breasts and flitting them back up at him in an admirably realistic impression of shyness.

"No," he returned coldly and much too quickly.

Angel crossed her arms under her breasts, clearly disagreeing with him about their value. "You're really a tough one, aren't you. What's your story? You queer?"

"I said that I don't like humans."

Her expression darkened. "I told you, I'll act like Bilbo fucking Baggins if it gets you off, but if you just hate sex, why'd you come up here in the first place? God, Midnight would just love you." She'd dropped the 'pretty' voice. Suddenly, she sounded shrill and bossy.

Here it came, more stripper names. "Who?" he asked flatly.

She raised her eyebrows at him. This was apparently yet another thing he was supposed to already know. "Midnight is the queen here. The boss," she said.

"Of this building?" he asked, not sure why he bothered.

She laughed, and her voice was unpleasant. "Of this city. She's got a penchant for guys who are hard to break."

"Break. So she's a dominant."

"A dom, yeah. A good one, too. You get off on bondage?"

"I have had my share," Krad said. "I'm free now. Never again."

This seemed to catch her interest, despite her annoyed mood. She looked at him skeptically. "You like your old master?"

The angel's expression said that the answer to that was obvious, but he didn't speak right away. After all, she didn't even understand what he was talking about. But maybe that was better. "He was obstinate and sentimental. He turned me over to the hands of my enemies and left me for dead."

"_He?_" She gave a harsh snicker, as if her breasts had been vindicated. "So, you love this guy?"

Krad's face grew dark. Ah, _there_ it was. Anger. "What part of 'hands of my enemies' and 'left for dead' are you unfamiliar with?"

"Hey, it's just a question," she defended. "I'm not a sub, how should I know? Maybe you have Stockholm Syndrome and this shit made you loyal to him."

"I dropped a building over his head yesterday," Krad said dryly. He was beginning to seriously dislike her real voice.

Angel's expression went from curious to incredulous. "Good for you," she said, clearly not believing him. "Didja get him?"

"No. He made it out."

"Oh, this is rich. Okay, Superman, did you try using your laser vision_?_" she said sarcastically.

"We're done," Krad snarled, standing up.

And almost sat back down. Apparently, two whiskeys within fifteen minutes was nothing to sniff at. He toughed it out, and after a few seconds, he found that his head cleared somewhat. Enough, at least. He walked toward the door.

"Hey, you gonna pay for this show, or do I have to call someone to make you?" she demanded.

Krad reached into his pocket and pulled out the credit card Jirou had given him. He wouldn't be using it again. He threw it on the bed and opened the door. "Don't overdo it. It's not mine," he said flatly.

"Fine! Get the fuck out, fucking queer," Angel grumbled from behind him as he left her and her perfect breasts behind without a second glance.

The hallway seemed too bright after the dim light of the bedroom, but the angel was somewhat relieved to find that he didn't have significant trouble seeing or walking down it. That was about the only thing he was pleased about at the moment. He reached the base of the stairwell and stepped through the curtain, back into the muted commotion of the bar room. There were quite a few more people than before, and the room seemed oddly quieter than it had. He paused and peered into the dark room, searching for the door they'd come in by.

"Getcha something, sir?" the bartender's voice came from Krad's left.

The angel looked over at the man. "Just leaving," he said.

"I wouldn't go out just now if I were you. The cops are making a run of the street," the bartender said, wiping down a spill on his counter.

They are not here for me," Krad challenged coldly.

The bartender just laughed. "Ain't a man in this hellhole hasn't done _something_ to piss off the cops, and even if you ain't, they'll take you aside just the same. So if you got something to hide, I recommend you stay put."

Krad frowned. His patience for human society had more than run its limits tonight. But he certainly did have something to hide. He had two very large, feathery things to hide. Practicality won out, and the irate angel took up a stool at the bar.

He glanced up as the bartender thunked a glass of beer in front of him.

"I didn't order anything," the angel said firmly.

"If you ain't gonna pay for it, don't drink it, but you can't just sit dry at my bar. Let one fella stay without buyin' and it sets a bad example for the others. I'm just putting up with ya because you're one of Angel's customers."

Krad rolled his eyes and leaned forward on his elbows, watching the beer without interest while the bartender moved off to take care of other customers. He had a bizarre temptation to put his head down and fall asleep, but he knew full well that this was no place to relax. If it weren't for the whiskey in his system, he'd probably have been on the verge of panic.

Instead, he let his anger and impatience fester and turned his attention toward his surroundings. The most hard-to-miss conversation in the room was the noisy quarreling of a group of about fifteen men who had staked out the entire left-front quadrant of the bar. It took a few minutes of listening to realize that they were arguing about someone who'd been left outside.

"This is insane! We can't leave him out there!" one of the younger voices demanded for the third or fourth time.

"No, he stays there. And Maru, one more whine from you and we'll let you join him."

"But he's one of us!"

"Can it, Maru! The boss is getting pissed."

"He wasn't pulling his weight and you all know it. Now shut up and order us some drinks."

"We can't leave him out there!"

"What did I fucking tell you?"

The telltale click of a safety lock unsnapping let the whole tavern know what was about to happen. As if a ceremony was about to start of which they were all informed in advance, the room fell silent. A second later, the shot went off and there was a heavy sound as a body slid to the floor. Krad looked over his shoulder to find the entire restaurant very cautiously minding its own business, the hum of conversation drifting back into the air as if nothing had happened. In fact, he was the only one who turned to see the man he assumed to be "Maru" drawing his final gasps on the linoleum floor.

A tall man wearing jeans and a black leather jacket was standing over the body, calmly resetting the safety on his gun. The man scanned the room and connected with Krad's cold stare.

"Idiot! The hell you looking at them for?" the bartender hissed from just behind Krad's head.

"Having a problem minding your own fucking business, pal?" the gangster threatened, turning toward Krad without putting the gun away.

The angel's expression hardened, anger sparking into the edges of his cold bronze eyes. "Something irritated my ears," he said.

"Aw, do bullets make you nervous, prettyboy? I don't pussy around with silencers," the man smirked darkly. Dangerous aggression seemed to ooze from his stance as he began walking toward Krad. It was easy to see why the rest of the men obeyed this one.

"The gun wasn't the problem. Perhaps it was your voice," the angel offered. There wasn't even a glimmer of amusement in his face.

Apparently, the rest of the room didn't think that was such a smart idea. Another ceremonial silence fell over the group, the turned backs of the other patrons asserting that this was what happened to people who didn't mind their business. It occurred to Krad that they had a point. He wasn't showing enough self-restraint. On the other hand, something about this gangster annoyed him immensely. The indifferent poses of the rest of the room irked him as well.

"Do you enjoy pain, smartass?" the man asked, leaning down so he was eye to eye with Krad.

The angel returned his glare unblinkingly, thinking more carefully through his words. He wanted a way to defuse the situation. He did not feel like enduring this musclehead's conversation until the police left the area. On the other hand, he didn't intend to be conciliatory, either. He chose to do neither. "I'm going to turn around and drink my beer," Krad said as mildly as possible, showing the man his open palms. He slowly pivoted his head back to the bar and left his back to him.

"You ain't drinkin' your beer."

Krad was truly angry now, but he kept his gaze forward and picked up the drink the bartender had set in front of him. Not that he cared much, but he couldn't afford to pay for it.

"You still ain't drinkin'," the voice taunted again from over his shoulder, closer than before.

"Tetsu, no more gunshots. The cops are right outside," warned one of the men in the corner.

"Yeah, I know," the voice returned, and a whisk of metal told Krad a switchblade had just come out.

Krad felt his muscles tense, adrenaline beginning to overcome the calming effects of the alcohol. He'd been free of the curse for nearly ten days, yet he had not taken a single human life. Again and again, he'd avoided the vindication of the anger he'd protected so carefully for so long. It kept nagging at him. He kept wondering if he had lost his nerve, forgotten his purpose. But with a knife at his back, revenge was less optional. Was this it? Was he going to kill every human being in this room? Would that restore his resolve?

The angel slowly got to his feet and turned to face the man called Tetsu. The other men began moving in to flank their leader, forming a semicircle around Krad. "Put the knife away," he said, his mood growing worse with every second he looked into the fool's smug face.

Tetsu's face contorted into an abrasive laugh. "You have no clue who you're screwing around with." He raised the knife and lunged at Krad, blade aimed at the angel's throat.

There was a burst of light, and the next thing anyone knew, Tetsu's body had been hurled to the floor, skidding across the room until his head rode up against a table leg and stopped him. A deep crater had been burned into his chest, his shirt blown to rags around it. There was no blood from the wound itself; it had been cauterized the instant it was made, but there was no doubt the man was dead. A trickle of blood ran from his nose, and his eyes stared vacantly into space.

"He killed Tetsu!" shouted one of the gangsters, who were cautiously drawing their weapons. As if the code of anonymity had been broken, the entire room was suddenly watching the scene.

Krad looked at the dead body. He was mad, and it felt good. "Worthless humans," he growled.

"Get him!" someone shouted, and suddenly ten bodies were running toward Krad with knives raised.

The angel summoned his powers and threw a volley of weaker blasts into the men closest to him. He couldn't afford to use an attack like he just had on Tetsu for each of them, so he paced himself. An entire row of men went down, shock glazed onto their expressions, but several more made it to him, forcing Krad to fight hand to hand. Or rather, hand to knife. The angel snarled as white heat cut across one of his arms. He summoned a powerful blast of force that threw the men out of striking distance. Wood splintered as people were thrown onto tables and chairs and food and drink crashed to the ground. Screams and shouts of panic rang out as people scrambled to organize themselves in a way that would actually work against the powerful stranger.

More decided to join the fight, edging toward Krad like he was a dangerous animal. Krad held his hand out, and a glowing blade of blue energy extended from it. Amidst a chorus of confused shouts and curses from around the room, he charged the closest attacker and threw the blade into its neck. The weapon cut easily through the man's flesh before Krad dropped him to the ground in a gurgling heap. The angel burst into motion toward the panicking crowd, using their shock to his advantage. Ten seconds later, eight more men lay on the floor and his attackers were becoming more desperate.

Krad, for his part, was getting tired. He was exhausted in the first place, and he had used a lot of energy on that first attack. However, this didn't supply him with even the slightest desire to stop. He wanted to kill; he wanted them all to suffer. The crowd around him looked like nothing more than worthless, petty vermin, and they died so easily. It was like stomping on roaches.

Hands were grabbing at him, trying to muscle him down. Fabric ripped around his neck, and he felt his cloak pull away from his body. The angel spun and took a lethal swing at the man who had done it, his wings showing to the room. A few men hesitated at the sight of them, while others shouted to each other and redoubled their efforts.

Krad stretched his wings straight upward to keep them out of the way, striking another man down. Bodies were closing in around him, making it hard to maneuver. Hands and fists were jabbing into him from more directions than he could manage at once. To make matters worse, his movements were losing their sharpness. He still had his knife spell engaged and was making full use of it, and more than a few bodies slumped limply between their peers as the crowd pressed in on the angel. More than two thirds of the men in the room were down, but there were still enough to corner him, which Krad did not like. He beat his wings and attempted to lift off from the chaos, but hands grabbed his ankle and twisted him sideways.

The angel gasped as he was thrown to the ground. The men pressed in above him. Krad let the energy blade dissolve in his hands and fired a series of attacks upward. Blood sprayed across his face, and two men collapsed over him. Their bodies were heavy and weighed him down more than ever. Hmm, that hadn't been the plan.

Krad glared upward and fought fiercely against the hands and boots that swarmed over him, but they pinned his limbs until he was too outmuscled to continue. Several heavy feet came down on his spread wings. "Off!" he roared, struggling.

"I'll do the honors," a man said, stepping forward with a pistol in his hand. The crowd separated enough to let him in at the angel's feet. Krad recognized him as part of the original gang from earlier. "You have a hell of a lot of nerve, picking a fight in here. And not bringin' a single friend to back you up. Are you some kind of idiot?" the man growled, pointing the gun at the angel's head. "I don't know what you did to yourself, but that's the most unnatural fucking thing I've ever seen," he spat, waving the barrel at Krad's wings.

Krad fought harder against their grip, understanding that he really was about to be shot. He did not want to die trapped. He was free, damn it. His rage was burning through every muscle like gasoline, ready to explode, but he had no matches left. He couldn't move his arms, and he couldn't make an attack. Through the legs of the men holding him down, he could see the bodies of the men he'd killed strewn across the bar. The first thought the view inspired was a sense of pride and satisfaction. To his confusion, the victory felt empty and false almost immediately afterward. It wasn't enough. He scrambled for a meaning to pin to what had just happened before he died at the hands of this half-wit thug. Nothing came; he only felt bitter and confused.

"Wait. Let me see," came a woman's commanding voice from the corner of the room. Krad tried to identify it, but it wasn't Angel's. The group opened up to let in a slender woman wearing a black leather dress and stiletto shoes with laces that ran up her legs. Her lipstick looked like blood on her ivory face, and her black hair flowed in thick curls around her waist.

"Miss Midnight," acknowledged the man with the gun, without lowering it.

The name clicked in Krad's adrenaline-soaked mind. This was the "queen" Angel had mentioned.

Midnight walked slowly up to Krad, studying him with a predatory stare. She stood between his spread legs and placed one spike-heeled foot on the angel's chest. She leaned forward onto it, bending over her knee to get a good look at the breathless man's face. Krad did not offer her the satisfaction of a groan. He glared at her hatefully as she looked over his wings and muscles. Finally, she pushed off his chest and crossed her arms critically. "I want him," she said.

"…Miss Midnight, he just took out our friends."

"_Your_ friends," she corrected. "I want him. Don't worry, he'll be punished."

"With all due respect, that ain't the kind of punishment he deserves."

Midnight walked slowly up to the man, pressing her face close enough to kiss him. "I said he's mine. Now get your gun off my new pet."

"I am _not_ your pet," Krad snarled from his place on the ground.

The woman smirked at the man with the gun. "Knock him out, but don't damage him."

Krad was about to talk back to her, but a steel-toed boot caught him squarely behind his ear, and in a flash of shock, he was out cold.

**o0oOo0o**

(From Wikipedia): Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in an abducted hostage, in which the hostage shows signs of loyalty to the hostage-taker, regardless of the danger (or at least risk) in which they have been placed.

_**To be continued! **__**Soon!**__ Welp, Krad finally snapped. Seemed like it had to happen sometime. Don't be too weirded out by all the sketchy hookers; I promise not to write weird bondage lemons about Krad and Midnight (unless you want me to P ) I'm bringing Dark and Daisuke back in next chapter also, but you won't have to wait too long to find out what happens to Krad._

**Shout outs!**

Relena – Thanks for reviewing, as always. I think Daisuke and Dark will be seeing each other again in the next update.

Ichigo-usagi Wizu – If I'm lucky, you made it past the first chapter and are still reading P. Thanks for the feedback!

X lost fairytale – Huzzah, I'm thrilled that you like the vet. This update took longer than expected because, well, it became 13 pages long. But hopefully the motivation for the next part (or an impatient reader's fist) will hit me quickly so I can make more.

Bansheegrrl – Thanks for following along even though I took forever to update X)

Stormshadow13 – Er, I hope you will forgive me for being mean to Krad in this one. Yeah, Dark's in a bit of trouble, but at least he's closer to the action now. Krad and Sato haven't seen the last of each other – that much I can promise : )


	19. Breakout

**Phantom Destiny Part Nineteen**

"_**Breakout"**_

**Author's Note: The initial version of this chapter contained, by mistake, an EXTREMELY bad spoiler scene that I had written as an experiment to see if I liked it and then forgotten it was sitting at the bottom of the document. The scene was for many chapters from now, was incomplete, and was not yet how I want it. I caught it 12 minutes after the update and removed it, but oh god, I am so sorry if anybody saw it. Please shhh if you did (but let me know, cause I'm never going to stop wondering).**

Trap's long fingers danced spider-like over his keyboard. He was alone in his personal office, with the door closed. The room was sparse and undecorated, lit by the passionless glow of various computer monitors. He'd taken the liberty of removing his tie and loosening the top button of his shirt. His scientist's mind had little appreciation for either. Things that existed simply for the sake of pretense tended to frustrate him. He paused, his cool grey eyes scanning the information he'd pulled up on the monitor. He punched a few more keys and entered a password. The researcher's jawline tightened faintly as he discovered what he knew he would find - another dead end. His right hand tapped a tense rhythm against the frame of his keyboard.

It wasn't so much the dead ends – his profession demanded a tolerance, if not a fascination, for information that required perseverance to obtain. What was coiling his stomach was that it should have been easy. A simple search for trivial information. There should have been no reason to classify the status of an ordinary high school student. Yet his searches pulled up nothing, only brought him in subtle, useless circles. An ordinary searcher would not think twice about it, but Trap knew the circuitous data meant something was being hidden, and as the foremost researcher on the Dark Wings project, he was having trouble understanding why he could not locate information that related to his research.

Of course, his promise to find out the status of the Niwa boy's female acquaintance wasn't something Gorudo's security would have anticipated, but Trap saw no reason why it should be so hard to pull up a single fact about her. The address was blocked from him, schools denied his password authorization, doctors and affiliated companies were all conspicuously missing from her file. No report of the kidnapping was on record, but he hadn't expected there to be. No obituary had been filed in the paper suggesting the girl's death, but that too could be controlled through Gorudo's contacts. Trap had even paid a visit to the scene of the abduction, and found no clues.

He'd been informed by Shira in his initial briefing that the girl was alive, but if she was, he could find no way of proving it. If Trap said that Risa Harada was fine, the boy would believe him, or so he had said. But Trap was a scientist, and a good one. Falsifying data was not his habit, nor was letting sleeping ducks lie. Did the organization actually murder the boy's girlfriend? He had little faith in Shira's word. Fancy titles aside, when push came to shove, she had no merit as part of this research. She was a soldier, and his perception was that candor was not among a soldier's merits.

A sharp knock on the door made him glance up from his futile system queries. "Come in," he said in a composed tone, a bored stare programming itself across his face as he closed the query window on his monitor and replaced it with a spreadsheet.

Shira opened the door and strode in, her bold red hair tinting a nauseous gray in the green and black light of Trap's monitors. "Do you always have to sit in the dark?" she demanded, narrowing her eyes.

"Yes. What can I do for you?" he said, his grey-hawk eyes watching her expectantly.

"What's the ETA for our results? Gorudo is getting pushy."

"Soon," Trap answered, ignoring her persistent references to their research as if it had been collaborative. It wasn't her fault she'd been placed on this project, though he couldn't imagine why the decision had been made. The only thing she'd scientifically demonstrated about Daisuke was that he recovered well from gunshot wounds. "You can tell him we've developed a program that should be able to manipulate the intensity of the boy's neural link with the Black Wings. It's a self-teaching algorithm, so within 24 hours, it should be sufficiently fluent with the boy's neural patterns to reproduce and magnify the feedback.

Shira managed to restrain the confusion that tried to show in her expression. "So," she said carefully, drifting into an uncomfortable hesitation.

Trap recognized her confusion and decided to be merciful. "Tell Gorudo we should be able to summon the Black Wings from wherever-it-is tomorrow," he translated, apparently with less smugness than she expected, because she afforded him a brief, curious look. It was the friendliest expression he'd seen from her in the course of the project, and certainly friendlier than any he'd shown her.

He expected her to go then, but she lingered in the doorway for a moment. She looked like she wanted to ask something, and for the sake of curiosity, he raised his eyebrows at her expectantly.

She dropped her voice. "When Mr. Gorudo has the Black Wings back, what do you think he intends to do with it?"

"I'll answer that if you answer something for me," Trap said without missing a beat, his expression as flat and calculating as ever.

She regarded him quizzically, but said, "Fine."

"Is Harada Risa alive?"

He watched her ferret-like eyes carefully as she hesitated. "That's classified information."

"I know," he said darkly, and waited.

"No, she isn't," she said, pushing each syllable out carefully. "She resisted during the abduction, and we disposed of her."

"Disposed of her."

"Over a cliff."

Trap studied her closely. He could swear he'd heard guilt in her voice, but he couldn't find it in her face. Instead, she just said "And your answer?"

"I have no idea," Trap said.

"That's not an answer," she growled.

"The Black Wings was originally an art piece. Perhaps he plans to put it on display," he offered indifferently.

Shira looked vaguely uncomfortable. "But it shares the same brain patterns as the boy. Does that make it…human, or some sort of living being?"

"Says the woman who threw an eighteen year-old off a cliff," Trap said with a flicker of dry amusement.

"I was following orders," she snapped.

"You'd be safest to keep following them, and to stop asking questions."

"You should talk," she chortled fiercely.

"Is that all, then?" Trap asked impersonally and sat back in his chair, as if they'd only discussed the report. He rested his elbows on the arms of his chair and made a peak with his fingers.

"Yes," Shira bristled. "I'll convey your message to Mr. Gorudo.

When she had closed the door behind her, Trap rested his chin on his knuckles and thought. The girl was dead. Frankly, he hadn't expected that. He knew the organization didn't always work with the most elegant methods, but it this case, it seemed like a blatant waste of life.

He frowned as he realized he was getting angry, and made himself stop. He had a rule about investing himself personally in projects. He didn't. Still, there was more than ethics at stake with this news. If the kid took it poorly, it could interfere with the last crucial sample of data he needed. He forced the issue from his mind for the time being and turned his attention to his work.

~oOoOo~

Shira alternated between irritation and nervousness and confusion as she walked swiftly across the building. She'd shared restricted information – how had he made her do that? Over such a stupid question? Which he didn't even answer, she noted. He was as arrogant and calculating as they said. She groaned as she keyed in her clearance code for the elevator, then stepped into its black marble walls and pressed the button for the top floor. The elevator made her enter a second passcode when she reached the top, and then a receptionist's face appeared on a tiny screen above the keypad.

"Here to make a report," Shira said to the receptionist, who knew who she was. A moment later, the elevator doors opened and she stepped out into Gorudo's cavernous office. Stone sculptures and modern art that looked expensive, albeit not particularly attractive, adorned the large outer lobby. They always reminded her of toys left out in a child's backyard, but she of course kept her opinions to herself.

She passed the receptionist's desk and crossed the room to the large oak doors that led to Gorudo's inner office. The knock was a pretense, because she knew he could already see her on camera. A moment later, she let herself in. Gorudo was as intimidating as ever. His cobra eyes looked at her without addressing her, his hand paused in the middle of what he had been writing when she came in. It was a gesture that said "Spit it out." His handsomeness contrasted so harshly with the predatory eyes and impatient frown that she always reacted to him by first wanting to touch him, and then wanting to flip him off. Of course, she never did either.

"Sir, the research will be complete tomorrow. At that point," she thought about trying to use some of the technical terms Trap had told her, but was too wary of misusing one and looking foolish. "At that point, we will be able to use the boy to summon the Black Wings."

"I already have the Black Wings," he corrected casually, as if it was common knowledge. He went back to writing, apparently losing interest in her by the second.

Shira's eyes widened. "You….have it?"

"We acquired it last night," Goruda said, drawing a deep breath to still his impatience at having to state the obvious.

"Sir….if it's…..if he's here, then our research…"

"What of it?"

She stared at him, unable to hide a trace of irritation. "Trap is researching that boy so that he can summon the Black Wings. If you already-"

"Trap _was_ doing that. Now he is doing something else. He just doesn't know it yet," Gorudo said. There was something in his eyes. A warning. "Only a select group of personnel are informed of our guest's presence. Trap is not to be among that group. Understood?"

"Yes," Shira mumbled, unable to grasp the situation. The term 'guest' pulled back her earlier suspicion. Was the Black Wings they'd been searching for a human being? If so, why had they needed the boy?

"Don't think about it too hard," Gorudo said in response to her blank expression. "You're not here for research. Your job is to keep an eye on Trap. This project is too important to botch if his ego gets in the way."

"Yes, Sir," she replied, but he already looked distracted by something on his monitor. A small yellow button flashed on his desk, and he pressed it. At his signal, the doors opened and three men she recognized from the Special Ops division entered the office.

"That's all, Shira," Gorudo dismissed her as he turned his sharp gaze on the newcomers. "Our guest should be up by now. He's in Wing E, unit six. Bring him something to eat, but sedate him before you open the door. All three of you, and don't let your guard down. I won't have him running loose in my building," he said flatly.

Shira had left slowly enough to hear their brief conversation, and she had to speed up to keep from being trampled as the men turned to leave with her. _Three S.O. soldiers to feed one prisoner?_

_Wing E,_ she thought as they all piled into the elevator. Wing E was on the eighteenth floor; her work was on the twelfth. She stood quietly in the corner as the car stopped at their floor. One of the men entered the access code for the floor, and the doors slide open. Once the men filed out, the doors closed again and the car began its descent to her level. She stared at the doors, very still.

The car stopped, and opened. Her floor. She looked out at the hallway, but didn't move. Her curiosity was too strong. She wanted to know what was up there. A few motionless seconds later, the doors closed again, and she stood in an empty elevator with no destination.

She looked at the row of buttons and gathered her nerve. She just wanted one look. If they asked why she was there, she could make up an excuse.

However, before she touched anything, the light for floor 18 lit, and the elevator shifted into motion.

Shira's stomach tried to climb up her throat. How could they have finished so quickly? How would she explain why she was still in the elevator? She jerked her hand to the control board and mashed the buttons for the intermediate floors between 12 and 18. She would just get out before their stop.

The buttons lit up normally, but the car did not stop. It bypassed the other floors and proceeded straight to level 18. She stared at the switchboard in astonishment. How was that even possible? Now, not only was she still in the elevator, but she'd have to explain why she was standing in an empty car with 5 levels pushed. Frustrated, she rapped her nails on the marble wall and waited for the door to open. Oddly, it was taking several seconds. She wondered if the S.O. thugs had actually forgotten their password. Rolling her eyes and wanting this over, she rapped her access key into the security panel and let the doors open.

The moment the panels slid aside, she made eye contact with the strangest thing she'd ever seen in her life. He had one hand poised over the keypad outside the elevator, apparently in the middle of something, but his sharp violet eyes were staring straight at her. Despite the enormous wings poised warily behind him, the eyes were the thing she couldn't stop staring at. Oddly, he seemed as confused by her presence as she did by his.

"Oh. Thanks," he said, casting her a friendly but alert grin as he abandoned what he was typing on the access panel and stepped into the elevator.

Shira flattened herself to the wall, staring at him in astonishment. "Black Wings," she breathed, trying not to act like she was looking at the most beautiful person she'd ever seen.

Dark glanced over his shoulder. "Wow, you're right. Or a very dark grey," he said in mock amazement. He looked back at her. "I thought this car was empty." The gates closed behind him, and he moved to stand in the corner next to the door.

Shira was about to ask him why he would think the car was empty, but then remembered how she'd let it sit idle for some time at level 12. Had he been following that on the access panel? "Did you reprogram this elevator to override the other floors?" she demanded, disbelief knitting her eyebrows together. She tried to remember if she was carrying her pistol, and she wasn't sure what would happen if she reached into her belt to check.

"A little. Do me a favor and unglue yourself from the wall. I'm trying to lay low here." The winged man tilted his chin up toward the tiny camera lens built into the wall above his head. It could see her, but he was in its blind spot. She hadn't even noticed the deviced before, and she couldn't remember him looking for it when he entered the elevator.

"That's not possible," she said firmly.

Dark raised his eyebrows. "Afraid of small spaces?" he offered.

"Not my posture, you idiot," she snapped. "Reprogramming the elevator."

"But I'm pretty sure I just did," Dark mused, typing in a sequence of numbers on the access panel that was too long to be a passcode. The car slid into motion, but none of the levels were lit.

"This elevator is smarter than I am," she protested.

"Well, we know where you and I stand then," he smirked.

Shira glared and stepped away from the wall, looking ready to punch him.

Dark crossed his arms at her aggressive stance. "It's an improvement, but that's not exactly inconspicuous either."

"I'm not here to help you," she snarled. "You escaped from Wing E. Do you know how many people are looking for you right now? When we leave this elevator, there will be an armed squadron waiting for you." It was a bluff, she knew. If what Gorudo said was true, there might be only a handful of staff in the entire building that were even alerted that the Black Wings was here.

"An armed squadron? Really? At every floor?" the angel asked teasingly.

"We only need one floor to keep you from escaping," she sneered.

"The ground floor."

"Yes."

"Two problems with that logic. First, as you wisely observed, I have wings." He looked amused as he watched it sink in. "Second, who says I'm trying to leave the building?"

"What else would you want? And where are we going?"

"We're just moving up and down to kill time. And I was hoping you could tell me," Dark said with his most charming smile. "Someone important to me is missing. I think he's here, and I need to find him."

Shira's eyes widened with recognition. He was looking for Daisuke Niwa. She'd known the boy was connected to this…being in front of her, but for the first time she wondered exactly how. "What will you do if you find him?" she asked quietly.

"Help him, if I can," he said honestly. Something more real was in his eyes now, a desperate urgency that made him seem slightly vulnerable. "First and foremost, I need to know that he's safe."

"You think he's dead?" she asked, testing to see how much he knew. She regretted her wording a little when it made his face darken.

He fought to keep his expression calm. He wanted her help. "I don't know. I am hoping he's here."

"Why would he be here?"

He frowned and looked at her very seriously, wondering how much she knew. "Probably because of me," he said quietly. "Miss…?"

"Shira," she said flatly.

"Shira, this isn't my style, but I don't have a lot of time. Do you know who I'm talking about?"

She studied him. "No."

"Do you know where he is, Shira?" he demanded again.

"Certainly not. Now if you don't mind, if I'm found chatting with you in an elevator, I'll lose more than my job."

Dark leaned back against the corner, his wings fanning around him. He took a deep breath. He'd ruined enough lives in the last few days; he didn't need to take this fiery woman down with him too. It would take longer without an inside source, but he was an expert. He could find out about Daisuke on his own. "Where do you want to get off," he asked her coldly.

"I work on level 12. Research floor, no windows. Your wings won't help you escape there." she said.

Dark studied her cautiously. "Why the random information? And what makes you think I'm getting off with you?" His right hand fingered a code into the console and the car reversed direction.

"Well, just that if you're trying not to escape, the floor with no windows seems pretty reasonable to me," she snorted as they came to a stop. "But since you're smarter than this elevator, I suppose I'll let you figure it out." She smirked at him.

"I suppose that makes sense," he said with a growing smile as the doors opened to level 12. "Thanks, Shira."

She looked at him sternly as she passed him. "Don't thank me. The moment I leave this car, I'm calling security," she snapped, and headed left out of the stall.

"Of course," he chuckled, and headed in the opposite direction.

~oOoOo~

To be Continued

_**Well! After a stage of extreme writer's block, I'm back in business. Next chapter: Dark finally meets Daisuke, but not all goes as planned; Gorudo's men get to try to track down a stray phantom thief with a frustrating sense of humor; and, of course, Krad gets to know miss Midnight (mua ha ha).**_

_**As always, please let me know your thoughts/suggestions!**_

_**-Kat**_

Shout outs!

Relena – Thank you as always for the review! I would love to read your stories, although I don't know much about the shows… I have seen a few episodes of DBZ, so I'll give that one a try in the next few days! Some shows seem to have a bigger review turnout on than others, and even then, certain genres may be dominant over others for those shows, so keep going!

Stormshadow13 and CelloSolo 2007 – I hereby promise more Krad next, and he will most certainly be dominated (cackles maniacally).

Dark Rose – On the same note, I promise that the situations in the upcoming chapters will be driven by plot and character development and not by empty titillation, so please don't be afraid of a lemon (as much as I might be tempted). This isn't to say that they won't be suggestive or, to a modest extent, explicit at times.

Animeannie – Hi! I am so glad you found the story and I hope you keep reading! Thanks for your wonderful reviews! Krad does actually have his wings. Superfast explanation: When Dark and Krad first broke their seal using their combined powers, Krad came out of the spell first, whole and intact. However, intentionally or not, he then lost concentration on the spell, which left Dark stranded and resulted in the 'bug' that caused Dark's wings to grow incorrectly when his mortal body formed. Because Dark was spawning pair after pair of wings when the spell went out of control, Krad deigned to keep the spell from draining Dark dry by ripping the wings off. Since it hurt like a bitch, Dark was able to refocus and finish the spell, but the wings he managed to make for himself in that state aren't working out too well for him at the moment.

Sokyl – Thank you so much for the review! I also can't wait to write Krad's interaction with Midnight. He's such a stoic and introverted character that it may take something like this that's against his will to force him into some character development, which I am extremely psyched for.

Bansheegrrl – Your enthusiasm is such a wonderful motivation, thank you always for your kind reviews!

Lorret – Thanks for being the straw that broke the back of the camel that was my writer's block. I just found your review in my inbox the other day, and thought "I guess it's time to kick myself in the rear and do this." You totally said the right thing at the right time!


	20. Stranded

Part 20: Stranded

_Warning to the squeamish – adult themes, but not 'adult content,' in this chapter._

Voices sifted into his consciousness, vague and unintelligible like a blurry underwater warbling. The words seemed distant and meaningless, and it took some effort to register that this wasn't normal, that his mind was missing half the picture. All he had was a vague but persistent knowledge that something wasn't right. He explored outward with his mind, trying to feel the rest of his body, to make out sounds and shapes in whatever was going on around him. His efforts were effective only in that he now became aware of a pulsating ache in his head, like something bigger was trying to dig its way out of his skull.

This was at least enough to remind him that he still had a head, which could naturally be assumed to be attached to the remainder of his body. He followed the sensation, trying to let it lead him into the rest of him so he could regain his senses, and he felt a cold, sweeping nausea that circulated down through his arms and legs and fingers. It was enough to tell him that his arms were above his head, and there was a fierce pressure on his wrists.

The realizations came more quickly now as one sensation pushed him on faster and faster to the next. He was half-hanging, slouched against a cold vertical surface. His legs were beneath him and touching the ground, but offering little support. His wings were still like a distant memory, somewhere behind him. His head seemed to become worse. He dragged in a deep, slow breath.

"Prettyboy's wakin' up," a bored male voice commented to someone else somewhere in the room.

"I see that." A woman's voice, low, but still feminine.

A hard click indicated a door had been shut. The sound was like a boulder being dropped inside his head. The noise finally brought on what had been brooding just below the surface of his consciousness: alarm. He began to try to review what had happened, how he had gotten to wherever he was, and it spilled clumsily into his mind in isolated chunks, like a brick wall being laid out of order. His head swam as he brought back the earthquake, the fight at the tavern, the brunette standing over him before he passed out. The scenes pieced themselves back together until he truly remembered.

Unfortunately, if his completed recollection was true, that meant that right now, he was most probably… '_in the possession of some underground sex queen,' _he thought to himself, _'Wonderful.' _ Even though he knew it was true, and could even remember now the smirking face of the woman they called "Midnight," and even though his head was pounding with the aftermath of whatever abuse had befallen it after he was knocked out, still, he could not seem to bring himself to believe it.

He prepared himself and opened his eyes. The blurring, spinning mess that filled his vision was enough to make him immediately close them again and fight the urge to gag. He knew the owner of the female voice was still in the room with him, but she said nothing to him while he slowly regained his senses. He waited a few seconds and tried again, opening his eyes more slowly this time. The spinning subsided after a moment, leaving him with a blurry view of the room he was in.

Light poured through the room from overhead fluorescents, bright enough to white out the angel's sensitive vision. As he'd suspected, he was hanging upright by his wrists against a wall. He was low enough to stand under his own weight, but at the moment his legs were bent numbly against the ground below him without providing much support. He was in a surprisingly large room, perhaps a basement. The walls bore no art and no windows, and a smooth white paint covered the texture of cinderblocks. Almost definitely a basement, he amended his analysis. The floor was a surprisingly attractive shade of dark green, and the texture beneath his bare feet supplied the knowledge that it was not bare cement, but plush carpet. There was barely any furniture here, but a large wooden table stood in the center of the room with no chairs around it. He could see a staircase rising in the middle of the room to whatever was upstairs. For a city home, it was a huge amount of space. Or maybe he was no longer inside the city.

Krad turned his blurry vision upward and analyzed the metal braces that were tightly clasped around his forearms. They each had a reinforced steel loop that was currently clipped onto a large bracket in the wall above his head. He saw no similar brackets elsewhere in the room, no chains or weapons of torture, no love slaves or sex toys lying about. None of the things he might have expected, but then, what experience did he have with such things?

He lowered his eyes slowly to the only person in the room with him, the same tall, dark-haired woman who had claimed him like some new toy just before he blacked out at the tavern. She was leaning against the side of the staircase and watching patiently, wearing a very short red cotton dress and heels. Her glossy brown hair fell in loose chestnut waves around her hips, framing a long, elegant face with stark cheekbones and a thin, alluring smile. Her eyes were large and intriguing and appeared to match the forest green of the carpet.

She was pretty, he acknowledged. But if she didn't untie him right now, he would happily kill her.

"Good morning," she smiled. "How do you feel?" she offered in a way that said she was more interested in hearing him speak than in knowing the answer to her question.

Krad managed to accomplish a glare. He tested air in his throat, which felt dry and swollen. "I am not staying here," he managed to say, very slowly to avoid slurring his words. His body was barely cooperating, which didn't make sense. He should be able to recover better than this from a little kick to the head. A hangover? No, he couldn't have been that drunk. Repeating that to himself, he leaned forward off the wall and gathered his legs under him, aiming to take the weight off his wrists. The room twisted and swayed, and he tipped back against the wall with a heavy thud.

"So hostile. Is that any way to speak to your rescuer?" Midnight asked, an amused smile coming to her face. She walked over to him calmly, and the motion was effortlessly seductive. Something about it said that this was the way she always moved, a seduction she no longer needed to think about. She stopped directly in front of him. Krad was a good half foot taller than she was, even when he was leaning against the wall. "Those men intended to kill you for your performance in the bar. How about showing me some gratitude?"

"I haven't killed you yet," Krad offered, a trace of a sadistic grin pulling at his lips. "That is my gratitude, but it will wear away quickly unless you unlock these," he rattled the bonds fiercely, "Now."

"Oh, I don't plan to do that," she purred, leaning very close to him. "I haven't even had the chance to play with you yet."

"You would be wasting your time. I have no interest in your hobbies."

"Now now, let's not jump to conclusions so early," she grinned and looked him pointedly up and down. His eyes reflexively followed her gaze, and he realized for the first time that he wasn't wearing the clothes he'd had on in the bar. His shirt and coat were gone, and he wore a pair of loose white cotton pants he'd never seen before. He must have looked surprised, because when he looked back at her, she seemed pleased with herself. "You don't remember, do you? Changing your clothes, or our little chat earlier? Perhaps I should reintroduce myself. I am Midnight. And you are Krad."

That caught him off guard. His eyes narrowed on her with open disbelief. She knew his name. That wasn't possible. He'd sooner swallow nails than tell this absurd woman his name. "Why do you know me?" he demanded. An uneasy feeling was settling in his gut.

She took a moment to enjoy the stunned expression on the angel's face. "I know quite a bit about you. We had a very informative chat."

Krad felt the blood draining from his face as he realized she wasn't lying. He'd told her his name – who else could have told her? And he couldn't remember doing it. He would never tell a worthless human his name, not in his right mind. Which meant… "You gave me drugs?" he asked in a chilled voice, but it wasn't really a question. It made sense now that his body felt like it was on another planet, that his mind seemed dull and uncooperative. These were side effects of something much stronger than a little blow to the head. What could they have given him earlier that was crashing him this hard now? What had he told her?

"Don't look so disappointed, tough guy," she said, a stern undertone entering her voice. "In your defense, I had to double the dose to get you talking at all, and you sent three of my staff to the ER by the time I had everything I wanted from you. Thanks to you, Ryuusuke has been holding the fort by himself," she said, rotating her body to the side to indicate something in the back of the room.

For the first time, Krad noticed a still figure standing at the far end of the basement, leaning against the wall with crossed arms and looking none too pleased to be there. The man was tall and slender, almost lanky, with short silver hair. He was clad in dark jeans and a white shirt that was only half buttoned. He seemed to be watching over them with a vaguely displeased frown, and it was difficult to tell what his role was there. Hired muscle? A jealous lover? At the moment, the angel was too distracted to care.

Krad stared at her like she had three heads. Was she bluffing? How was it possible for him to not remember any of this? Anger began to override his confusion. He curled his hand into a fist and summoned the energy for a spell. It tugged unnaturally at his veins, warning that his strength was limited, but a blaze of white fire came obediently to his fingertips. Whatever she knew, it didn't matter. He was far past the point of wanting to let her live.

Midnight glanced up at the light forming around his trapped fist and smirked. With surprising strength, she delivered a hard sidekick to his bare stomach with the heel of her foot. Krad's spell splintered and dissipated with the impact. His vision went red as he doubled over as far as his bonds would let him, wide-eyed. The wind was gone from his lungs. It was all he could do to glare up at her blurring form in furious silence.

"Oops, did I distract you from your spell? In case you were wondering, honey, you told me how to do that," she said pleasantly, crossing her arms while he caught his breath.

Shit, she was telling the truth. There was no other explanation. What else had he told her that he was going to regret? He managed to keep the shock out of his expression, but it was spreading through him nonetheless. This was a very bad sign. If she understood how to interrupt his spells, he wouldn't get far with magic, and brute force really wasn't his strong suit at the moment. All he could seem to think of was that the whole situation made no sense, and it couldn't possibly be real. It was too bizarre and irrational, like a bad joke. But the steel cutting into his wrists and the bruising ache in his chest were difficult to deny. This was happening, to him, and this was the part where he got angry.

"I am not your pet, you deluded whore," he seethed. His body was forcing itself awake now, every nerve tingling with adrenaline.

"No? What's to stop me from keeping you? Don't tell me you're a registered citizen or have some sort of established legal identity? From our chat, I was sure you didn't," she mused craftily. "Do you own property? Have some mortgage or debt that will attract attention if unpaid? Or by some chance, do you have living relatives flying around somewhere, or is there someone else who would think to report you missing? Do you live off energy from the sun or anything else I can't provide you? I was sure I asked all that already, but you wouldn't hold anything back from me, would you dear?" she smiled.

Krad's expression had gradually changed as she spoke, and now he was staring at her with an amalgam of fury and physical disgust. "I don't need to be rescued. Do not think for a second that you can succeed at what you're trying to do," he said icily. "When you drop your guard for even one second, you will come to regret your folly in keeping me here. I have no desire for you or your pathetic race, so you have absolutely nothing to gain."

"The flaw in your logic there," she smiled, stepping in closer to him, "is that you expect me to care what you want. If I'd thought you wanted me, I wouldn't have chosen you. It's not my taste to touch the willing, dear, or have you forgotten? Willing men are dull, like rocks, what you see is what you get," she murmured huskily.

In the corner of his eye, Krad noticed the man at the back of the room turn his head sideways.

"But _you_," she continued, "you're tight and closed and full of anger. In you, there is something fascinating to discover. My greatest pleasure is watching men like you crack apart and show me your insides. Like geodes. On top of that, you have a very…._special_ body. And whatever you think you know about it, I believe I can find out exactly what it likes." She reached a slender hand out to caress his chest, and he subconsciously flattened himself to the wall.

Her hand stopped, poised just over his skin, and she grinned. "Aren't you a bit curious? You don't really know, do you? What you could be capable of…" she hinted.

Krad made a great effort not to look astonished. She'd asked him the other things. Given her interests, it only made sense that she'd have asked about _that_ too. But to have a human stranger casually refer to his sexual history was really too outrageous to believe. "You appear to have quite a libido," he said flatly, "But even with your appetite, I'm sure you could understand this dilemma: If placed in a cage with an ape, would you be willing to mate with it?"

She smiled darkly at the insult. "I think you underestimate the potential of apes," she said, touching her hands lightly against the sides of his ribs and sliding them down to his waist.

Krad's muscles tensed up, and he didn't have to pretend to find the sensation nauseating. He stretched his fingers to form another spell, but no sooner had the power begun to gather in his hand than long fingernails dug hard into his hips, breaking skin, and disrupted his concentration again. He gave the restraints on his arms and legs a vindictive jerk and glared at her fiercely as she continued to run her hands over his body, probing and testing. She drifted her fingers across the skin of his collarbone.

"Stupid harlot," he cursed her while she attempted in vain to get him to respond to her touch. It didn't seem to bother her that he wasn't aroused. She was enjoying herself. He cursed her again and tested his bonds with all his strength, but it didn't make her wandering fingertips leave his skin. After several terrible minutes, suspecting she might be enjoying his protests, he stood stock still and nursed his hatred in silence. This human, this _pathetic _human was touching his body as if it belonged to her. It was far too great a violation to endure, except that he had no choice.

She was surprisingly patient and meticulous, gradually experimenting with her lithe fingers and talking to him in low tones. However, after nearly ten minutes, she'd only managed to make the angel look livid and extremely pale. The words were meaningless to him, and her touch inspired an incredulity that bordered on nausea. She finally withdrew a step and crossed her arms at him thoughtfully.

Satisfied that she'd gained nothing for her efforts, Krad afforded her an unpleasant grin. "Ape," he reminded her tersely.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure," she said. "I have a few theories to try. I'd normally beat you silly for this kind of defiance, but tonight is your first night. You haven't eaten, and you must be tired. You can stay on your feet tonight. In the morning, we'll try this again."

"Like hell we will," Krad snapped, summoning balls of white light in each hand. Midnight's heel kicked hard into his chest. The energy dispersed, wasted. Krad didn't care anymore. He ignored his ribs and tried again. This time the blow came to his knee. Outraged, he lost all composure and dedicated himself to attempting the spell as many times as it took to get a hit through. However, with every new flicker of energy came a new bruising, distracting hit. The next blow fell on his chest again. The next, a sharp explosion in his shin. The only areas she seemed to be sparing were his face, wings, and groin, and thinking about why she was preserving them made him increasingly determined to kill her. Each strike made him angrier, and all his energy focused purely on the fact that one spell, just one spell would be enough to destroy this woman.

Their battle lasted a matter of seconds, but was overwhelmingly exhausting. Krad began to feel the empty throb in his skull that meant he was running out of power. He realized through the rush of adrenaline that even if she let her guard down now, in this state, it would be impossible for him to attack her in time. He glared at Midnight wildly, looking feral and out of breath. His handsome face shone with sweat. She had stopped reciprocating blows and was watching his exhaustion with amusement. His limbs ached furiously.

"That was impressive," she said. "You have a lot of potential. It's been a long time since anyone's kept me on my toes." She gave him a fearless stare. "Ryuusuke will clean you up. I'll see you in the morning," she promised before walking to the stairs and climbing up, out of the room. If anything was exchanged between her and the platinum-haired man, Krad didn't notice it through the roar of blood in his ears. He was too angry to think. Too angry, it seemed, to even breathe. When the stranger turned his way and began crossing the room toward him, the angel literally seemed to coil back, like a snake preparing for a strike.

A flicker of energy faltered to life in his bound right hand. It felt like someone was sucking with a giant straw against something that was nearly dry inside him.

"Don't," the man spoke for the first time. He stopped in place a yard from the angel, looking neither interested in nor afraid of him. "Attacking me will gain you nothing. Preserve your strength." His voice was earthy and cool, as if there was very little in the world that could concern him. It was a pleasant enough voice, casually attractive, much like his physical appearance. His expression seemed to have a similar way of looking both serious and careless. His dark grey eyes appeared to harbor no reaction to the angel at all.

"No closer," Krad warned fiercely. He retained the half-formed spell in his palm threateningly. His anger was bleeding off into a dense well of exhaustion, or else he'd probably have fired on the man regardless of his logic. The fool would have deserved it, too, he thought.

The man who had been introduced as Ryuusuke stopped his advance and put his arms out to his sides, a flicker of what might have been worry passing through his expression like a phantom before he agreed, calmly, "No closer."

Krad didn't feel the slightest bit more comfortable for this promise, but the ball of energy in his hand was too much strain to maintain his threat. He let the spell short itself out and sagged backward against the wall, feeling like a wrung-out cloth. His whole body was throbbing with the exertion of the magic he'd used, so much that he barely registered any other sensation. He stared at the stranger in front of him, but his mind was elsewhere as an unsettling string of logic struck him for the first time. He'd used his magic without restraint before. How was it possible that this was the first time he'd experienced this crippling recoil?

He didn't want to take the thought further, but as if put there by force, the memory came of Satoshi's retreats to his room, sometimes for days at a time, following the angel's brief but extravagant escapes. The boy had always been sullen after containing his escaped counterpart, enforcing the mental equivalent of radio silence over their subtle empathic link. It had never occurred to Krad as anything more than a display of obstinate self-pity. Had the boy endured this agony without his knowledge? How could the wing host have hidden it from him so well? Why hide it at all, when he could have easily made him share in the agony?

"…ad. Krad!"

The angel's chin jerked up to find Ryuusuke directly in front of him, calling him. When had he gotten so close? Trudging through his swimming head for a decision on what to react to first, he met the other man's grey eyes bitterly. "Do not call me Krad," he hissed with a look that could freeze lava.

"What do you expect to be called, then?" Ryuusuke replied flatly, neither impatient nor amused.

"Don't call me anything, twit, just keep your distance," Krad spat.

Ryuusuke frowned, but didn't retreat. "You blacked out," he said, pulling a bottle of water from the back pocket of his jeans.

"What are you supposed to be? A 'new pet' babysitter?" the angel said skeptically, deliberately ignoring the bottle although his throat suddenly burned for water.

The man leaned toward Krad, irritation creeping into his expression. "I'm the 'pet' that doesn't need a leash, and I'm no one's babysitter," he said coldly, dropping the capped bottle to the ground pointedly. It rolled across the carpet and came to rest next to one of the angel's bare feet.

Krad focused on counting the loops of silver that lined the edge of the man's ear, to avoid looking to see where the bottle had fallen. There were a lot of piercings, even in the sensitive upper cartilage. Ryuusuke's words began to come together then. He was here with Midnight by his own will. "You enjoy pain?" Krad asked, distaste lining his voice.

Ryuusuke looked angry for a moment, the first flash of real emotion Krad thought he'd noticed in the man. It caused his silver eyebrows to knit low over his narrowed eyes, but unlike Krad's fierce gold orbs that achieved loathing so easily, their warm grey never quite gave the impression of real hatred. "Nobody enjoys pain," he said evenly, "That doesn't mean there aren't plenty of reasons to put up with it. If you view it as part of a pleasurable process, there are ways to appreciate it, if not enjoy it."

Krad rolled his eyes up at the shackles binding his wrists. He didn't understand him, and he didn't want to. He did his best to collapse his hands in a way that would let him slip through the clasps, but his efforts only deepened the purpling bruises that ringed the bases of his wrists. When that didn't work, he gave the bottle at his feet a skeptical glance.

Ryuusuke crossed his arms, apparently waiting for the angel to admit he needed help. He'd be waiting for a while. There wasn't a cold chance in hell Krad would ask this human's help. His signified his sentiment by turning a cold glare on the man. His amber hair was loose and hung wildly around his shoulders and waist, which seemed to add to his untamable appearance.

Ryuusuke seemed to take the hint. "Enjoy your night, then," he said indifferently, turning his back on Krad and his predicament and ascending the stairs. He even flipped off the lights, leaving the angel to hang in the dark.

Then, slowly, the real horror of his situation gradually sank in for the angel. He was trapped. All these years fighting and waiting to be free, finally, truly free. And he was here, locked up again. Always locked up. This body he'd been willing to do anything for, and _had_ done anything for, afforded him nothing but a steady, relentless ache. And he knew that Midnight's words had been true. No one would seek him out or deliver him from this hell. It was startling to consider that he could die here. What meaning would there be to it all, if he died here? If he never achieved his revenge?

And, unsettlingly, he found himself wondering if Satoshi had thought the exact same things during those days of empty silence years before. The angel found it strangely difficult to imagine the boy in such a state of hopeless solitude, working out his options in his own personal hell. Had Satoshi really been able to hide that from him? Then again, Krad hadn't been paying attention. He had simply waited for his next chance to blast apart the Hiwatari's carefully forged defenses. It had felt good to destroy them, good to leave his captor drained and helpless as he finally returned control. But he hadn't thought it would feel like this.

Had that driven the boy to betray and seal him in a colorless world for a would-be eternity? Had he known what it would mean for the angel? Had he regretted it for even a moment?

He tried to stop thinking. He didn't feel like himself. He wanted to be angry. Instead, he felt isolated and desperate. The angel's thoughts eventually dropped him into an exhausted and mercifully dreamless sleep.

--oOoOo—

**TBC**

_Oh boy, I bit the bullet here. See, I promised I would use the dominatrix scenario for character development and not smut! (Although admittedly, the worst is yet to come (but it's still not as bad as you are thinking)). _

_I am so sorry I took so long to write this chapter! Long story short, a lot of crazy things are going on in real life, but I am ready to get around them and focus again on writing and catching up on my reading here on FF net. Please let me know your comments/complaints/requests for therapy after this chapter : )_

_Also, I did a fan art of Dark cooking from an earlier chapter, just for fun. He has an apron. Hee. I'll put the link up with the others on my profile for anyone interested. _

_I hope you guys don't mind, in the interest of getting this (very overdue) chapter out as quickly as possible, I'm going to hold off on shout outs this time, but I love you all so much for your encouraging words that have inspired me to peck away at this thing even when life is completely over my head. Thank you!!! You guys are awesome! _


	21. Change of Plans

**Part 21: Change of Plans**

_Outside Dark's cell…_

Two men stood back, handguns drawn and ready, while the third typed a long code into a digital lock set in the airtight door. They'd been warned that this prisoner would be difficult, but other than his otherworldly appearance, so far there was little evidence to suggest it was really necessary to have three armed special ops guards present just to open the door. The winged oddity had even turned himself in. The only thing that kept the three well-trained men on their toes at this point, besides their orders, was the fact that it had actually been too easy.

A shrill beep sounded, followed by a heavy click, and the man who had entered the code cracked the unsealed door open enough to peek into the room. His sharp intake of breath and the string of curses that followed it made the other two men rush up behind him.

"What is it?" one demanded, unable to see into the room.

"He's not here," the first growled, throwing the heavy door wide for them to see in. All three ran into the room. They moved in formation with guns pointed, just in case. The square cell was barren, save for the steel-framed cot that was in the corner. No phantom thief.

"That's not possible," murmured the third man, giving voice to what all of them were thinking. "There was only one exit, and this door's been guarded all night."

"Tracker says he's still in here," said the second flatly, looking at a handheld device with a small red dot blipping from their exact location. Watching the screen, he made his way over to the cot, and looked under it. A tiny circuit chip lay on the floor, slightly filmed with dried blood. "He found the bug in his arm," the man cursed, standing up and showing the device to the others.

"Should we sound the alarm?"

The leader paused to consider this concept. "No. Keep it low-key. His presence here is classified. We don't want every temp and intern knowing who we've captured." He cursed, throwing the chip to the floor. "Alert Gorudo. Call in the rest of the squad and find the weasel before some temp does," he growled. The other two nodded, already touching the com units that hung next to their ears.

"Wait," the second soldier said, holding a finger up to sustain their attention while he listened to something on his unit. "Someone's seen him. He's in Research."

"Damn. Then send half the squad to the twelfth floor, have the rest cover the stairs and elevators," the leader said quickly.

**--oOoOo—**

Shira set the telephone receiver back on its perch and looked at it thoughtfully. It was hard to believe what she'd just seen. It was far too fantastical for her logical mind to accept. It was one thing to read about it in her briefing, but quite another to stand in an elevator with a man who was impossibly handsome and had enormous feathered wings, real ones, coming out of his back. Talking with such a creature seemed even more absurd, let alone helping him to find the boy she herself had kidnapped, yet she'd just done it. And now, having called in the sighting, she was at a loss as to what to do next.

She stood up from her chair, tossing her fire-red hair over her shoulder as she made for the door. She was not staying here in this office, that much was sure. She was on her way down the hall, planning to get back on the elevator and leave the floor before Special Ops got there, when she nearly collided with Trap. The man managed to skirt around her as if she were made of electricity as he came around the corner too fast, apparently making a B-line for his office door. He cast her an impatient glance, opening his mouth for some cursory apology. When he recognized her, he seemed to drop the manners and just proceeded to brush past her, pulling out a key to his office and applying it to the knob.

"What's got you worked up?" she asked him suspiciously, not sure why she was bothering with him. Social skills were not the scientist's best feature, but she was itching for a distraction at the moment, and he would do.

"What makes you think I'm worked up?" he said coolly, turning the key. He wasn't looking at her.

"You're worked up," she answered smartly, observing the side of his head as she circled around him. He didn't look at her.

He turned the knob, but kept his hand there without opening it. "I just paid a visit to my test subject," he told her with calculated indifference. The body language was clear; he wanted her to go away so he could open his door.

She cocked her head curiously and stood her ground, wondering what he was up to. "_Our_ test subject," she corrected.

His lips pulled back into a displeased smirk and he gave an unpleasant laugh. "Sure," he said impatiently, opening the door.

She took the liberty of following him into the small office, which was lit by the glow of monitors and LEDs. He didn't comment as she flipped the light switch he'd ignored as he passed in.

"What is it?" Trap asked stiffly.

"You seem frazzled. What's going on with the boy?"

She narrowed her eyes as he ignored her and began checking something on one of his monitors. He was hiding something. What was he… No. He wouldn't have. "You told him about the girl?" she accused in disbelief, watching his reaction warily. He just threw her a challenging glare. "You couldn't really be stupid enough to tell him," she pressed, her voice rising with anger. "I spoke with you in confidence."

He was suddenly up on his feet, moving past her to close the door. He closed it too hard, rattling the equipment that hung along his wall. He cast her a stern look as he returned to his seat. "The boy and I had an agreement that I would tell him if I knew," he said calmly.

"An 'agreement'? He can't know something like that! How do you expect to have his cooperation if you tell him his girlfriend is dead?" she snapped.

"And whose fault is it that she's dead?" he asked. "I could have lost his cooperation by not telling him." His tone was as collected as ever, but the edges of his mouth tugged downward.

She stared at him in disbelief for several long moments, unable to make heads or tails of his expression. "Well?" she finally asked, "How'd he take it?"

"Very well," Trap responded coldly. "I told him she was alive."

That sent her into a dumb silence. "You lied?"

"A moment ago you were ranting that I shouldn't have told him, and now you're antagonizing me for lying," Trap observed flatly.

"I don't think you should have told him anything about it in the first place. It's unnecessary."

"I wouldn't have promised anything if I'd thought she'd actually be dead," he said with stern composure. "This is my research, and I did what I had to do to keep it running smoothly.

"Sure you did," she crossed her arms leaned back against his door. "If you're getting attached to the kid, you'd better level with me. It's my research as well."

Trap's even gaze tightened angrily. "Then you should understand that it has nothing to do with attachment. What I told him was necessary to obtain these results." He reached for one of his monitors and spun it toward her, showing her a series of lineplot readings that were fluctuating steeply as they fed across the screen in realtime. "That's how he's taking the good news," he told her coldly.

"Those aren't feelings, they're readouts. And I can't read that," she reminded him, a little fascinated to see him angry. The neuroscientist was not the type to show off a lot of emotions.

"They're the same thing. And if you can't read them, you can shut up about "our" research," Trap said icily. "This pattern is new. It brings us inches from completing the data we need to summon the Black Wings."

She threw her arms up paced in a circle around the empty part of the office. She ignored the obvious fact that he wanted her out of the room, and studied him. He had never been so direct with her about the fact that she had no business on this project, though they both knew it well enough. She was a soldier, not a lab tech. "You act like you're the one who offed her," she observed bluntly. "You're acting guilty."

"You have an overactive imagination," Trap told her, seeming genuinely skeptical of her theory. "I need cooperation in order to finish this project. Until the Black Wings is summoned, maintaining his trust in me is pivotal."

Shira scoffed, although it was oddly comforting to see this sign of the usual, calculating Trap. "And what if the Black Wings were already-" she cut herself off. She'd been about to imply what she'd just seen. But these orders came from Gorudo himself. Trap was not to know their 'guest' was here. It bothered her. Why go so far to hide it from him?

"If there's nothing else to cover, I have a lot of work to do," Trap said testingly. "Did you return my reports to Gorudo?"

Shira looked down at her lap and thought about her answer. "He was pleased, though it's not clear he understood any of it," she said, using the flattery as a peace offering. She was lucky he wasn't attending to her closely enough to notice her coverup for what had really happened in Gorudo's office. She needed an excuse to stay here, to be sure Trap didn't learn more than he should while Special Ops went after its escapee.

Trap didn't show any amusement at her comment, but his temper seemed to have sobered again. "Well, I'm going to work."

"You work, I'm going to stay here for a while," she said, making herself at home on a plain couch that was half littered with machinery."

"You're a little distracting," Trap asserted.

"I'm bored. You can do your fancy science things while I loaf," she said tersely, slipping off her heels so she could put her feet up on the arm of the sofa, her legs forming a bridge over his equipment.

"That's expensive," he informed her.

"I'll be very careful," she droned, putting her arms up behind her head.

Trap shook his head and forced his eyes back to his monitor. He was this close to completing the boy's data. He wasn't going to risk incurring an incident report by being seen trying to eject this stubborn woman from his office. There was plenty to think about. He could afford to add ignoring Shira's unexplained clinginess to the list.

**--oOoOo--**

Dark ran swiftly down the antiseptic hallway of the twelfth story of the Gorudo Building. Unless the woman he'd encountered in the elevator had been misleading him, Daisuke was here, actually here, on this floor. He just had to find him.

He ducked to the side and flattened himself into an alcove as a door opened just ahead. A man in a white coat stepped out into the hall and began walking away from Dark's position. The angel waited, straight-faced, in the shadows for the footsteps to fade. He was alert, but composed. After all, this was what he did best. There was no reason to be nervous. Except that this time, he wasn't stealing art. He was retrieving the closest thing he had in this universe to a soulmate. A pang tugged at his chest as he let himself think it. He could pretend all he wanted that he was fine on his own, but something stranded inside him needed to be complete again. He tried not to overthink things as he proceeded down the pallid hallway at an alert sprint.

He took note impatiently of the security cameras that seemed to meet him at every turn. He evaded them mostly by instinct, maneuvering swiftly and gracefully through the minefield of sensors and lenses. The extra precaution caused him to proceed at a slower pace, which was extremely frustrating, knowing how close he was to his goal. But in addition to the fact that it was a point of pride for him as a thief to stay off the radar, he wasn't ready to be on candid camera just yet. Even though he knew his presence there was not a secret.

That had been the other assurance made to him by his acquaintance in the elevator. The moment she reached her desk, she would call security. Probably, this had already been done. He believed her on that, too. Perhaps she had helped him on a whim, but she had not shown the demeanor of a true turncoat. She had some reason to be here, something to lose. Her call to security would ensure her innocence in his escape, and the angel wasn't interested in begrudging her that.

It was alright if he was recaptured, provided that he saw Daisuke first. After their clumsy attempt to confine him last time, Dark really didn't see much threat in submitting to captivity a second time, and after all, his goal was not to simply break Daisuke loose. He could take turns with Gorudo abducting the boy from now till doomsday, but it would never be a real solution. To make Daisuke safe, he needed to either convince Gorudo to lose interest in the boy, or find something the billionaire wanted more.

He ran through his plan meditatively, using it to calm his increasingly agitated nerves as he proceeded to inspect room after room, scrambling keypad locks where he encountered them. The rooms and the equipment in them told him undoubtedly that these were laboratories, and very well financed ones, at that. However, none of the rooms he unlocked contained Daisuke.

He ultimately found himself at the mouth of a new hallway that looked less than half as long as the one he'd just come from. The hall had two doors before it reached a dead end a few yards from where he stood. He was running out of rooms to search. That wasn't good. Backtracking to the elevator in order to explore the other half of the level would almost certainly result in an encounter with Gorudo's men, not to mention take up time. Time he didn't have. Doubt was attacking his thoughts, along with adrenaline that was threatening to verge on panic. Was he in the wrong place? Had the boy already been taken somewhere else? Had he ever been here at all? Had they had some reason to discard his life?

He couldn't trust his reaction to that thought, so he stopped thinking it. He was here; he could only do what he did best. Entering the stub of a hallway, he began rapping his fingers impatiently at a keypad beside the first of its two closed, windowless doors. The sound of a latch opening down the hallway behind him made him glance backward, throwing violet hair out of his eyes. A green light flashed next to the lock he was unscrambling, and a powered latch gave off a sharp clack. The sound drew his attention back to his task. He pressed a large button on the keypad that had just backlit from red to green. With a hiss, the door in front of him slid open.

And the angel froze.

The inside of the room was frigidly white and well lit. It was a large room, full of equipment that was unfamiliar to him. Like second nature, he also noticed a camera near the ceiling that was monitoring the room, probably with a microphone built in. But what dominated his attention like a magnetic field was the figure lying still in the center of the lab. A redheaded boy wearing a long blue medical smock was lying on a half-raised hospital bed, facing away from the door.

"Trap?" Daisuke's voice asked, sounding unexpectedly upbeat. "Did you forget something?"

Dark took a step forward into the room, letting the door hiss shut behind him. The boy was alive, and he was safe. All the wounds and fears of the past week and a half seemed to resolve themselves in a single tight-throated whisper. "Daisuke."

There was silence. It stretched on unbearably. The soft humming of the machines was like an indecent roar above the gravity of the quietness between them.

"Dark?" Daisuke finally asked, audibly mystified.

The word released the angel like he'd been spellbound to his spot by the door. He walked quickly into the room, circling to stand a few feet in front of the boy's bed. Aside from the bandages on his shoulder and leg and the unusual state of dress, Daisuke looked much like Dark remembered him, though it was clear that he was a few years older. He was past that awkward age where the legs and arms didn't seem like quite the right size for the rest of the body. He was a young man now. There was also a faint shadow in his eyes, a willful skepticism that the Angel didn't care for. That was new. But a lot could happen to a teenager in a few years. He couldn't expect the boy to have remained exactly the same. And of course, the kid also looked a bit different with metal sensors taped to his forehead and neck.

The two stared at each other for the better part of a minute before Dark spoke. "Long time no see. If that's a fashion experiment, I feel obligated to tell you that "less is more" with the whole electrode-stuck-to-your head thing."

"Dark, what are you-…How did you get here?" Daisuke stammered, ignoring the phantom thief's usual wit.

"Elevator, actually. A rather fancy one, at that."

"But-…How is that possible?" Daisuke pinned the angel under an uneasy stare.

"Well, there's this box with a door on it that connects to a pulley, and it hauls folks up and down a hollow shaft in the-"

"Stop kidding around!" Daisuke halted the angel's explanation. "This isn't funny. You were sealed. How did you get here? Did Trap summon you already?"

The boy's troubled tone made Dark grow serious as well. This was not the reaction he'd been expecting from the boy. "I got here all on my own, kid. Who is this Trap character you keep talking about?"

"He works here. He's...studying me," Daisuke said uncomfortably. "He's also studying you."

Dark raised an eyebrow and laughed thinly. "I don't intend to let anyone hook me up to one of those machines."

"You don't need to. He's studying you through me." Daisuke looked at the angel.

"Through you?" Dark murmured. "You're talking about our link. But it's closed. I lost track of you ten days ago."

Daisuke narrowed his eyes. "No, our link has been closed for two years. All that remains is subconscious. Up until a few days ago, we were completely separate." he said tensely.

"I wasn't," Dark iterated firmly. "Why do you think I'm here? I knew when you got hurt, right before I lost track of you entirely."

"No… No, that's not possible. You couldn't feel me, you were sealed," Daisuke breathed, seeming more and more spooked, less and less rational.

"Will you stop looking at me like I'm some kind of ghost? What's wrong with you?" Dark stared at Daisuke's alarmed expression. "I thought you were killed. I'm not here on an afternoon stroll. Do you get that? I was afraid you were _dead, _so I broke free to find you_._"

Daisuke looked down at his feet at the edge of the bed. The bandage covering the bullet wound on his leg hung out below the hem of the medical smock, a reminder of something he'd almost lost sight of: He was a prisoner here.

But now that he'd taken part in Trap's research, there was something he wanted from them here. After coming this far, he wasn't going to leave until it was done.

"Sorry…it's not that it isn't good to see you," Daisuke's voice dropped to a whisper, as if there were others in the room with them. The boy probably knew about the microphone. "It's just that this changes things. Before all this started, I didn't even think we were connected at all anymore. Then Trap told me he has a way to use the link to bring you back to Earth and then put us in separate forms, so I cooperated. But now you're obviously here all on your own, in a separate body…"

Dark relaxed a little. "You're not the only one surprised; not even I knew I could escape that seal. But I'm here, so there's no reason to keep doing this," he said, reaching for the switch on the machine that was connected to Daisuke's sensors.

"Stop!" Daisuke halted the angel in mid-motion. Dark stared at him in confusion. "Trap's been enhancing the strength of the brainwaves we share. If it was a subconscious murmur before, it will be a full-out marching band now. That machine is the only thing keeping our minds separate."

The angel looked stunned, turning from the machine to him. How could the boy be so horrified of being linked to him. "This machine is why I couldn't sense you?"

The hurt in Dark's eyes made Daisuke feel guilty, which frustrated him. "Dark, you have to understand that we can't be like that again. We each need our own lives and our own minds. I need to get back to Riku…and your place is here, with the people that created you."

Dark frowned. "You want me to stay here?"

"Yes. Trap has a way to separate our minds. It's almost ready. If I can help him finish that, we can each live like normal people, in privacy."

"Daisuke, I don't want privacy," Dark almost whispered. He gestured down at the empty body he was, by his estimation, trapped in. "I wasn't made for this."

Daisuke shook his head. "Yes, you were, Dark. You and Krad were meant to be a single, self-sufficient entity. You were going to be a masterpiece, until my family wrecked it. You were never meant to be bound up inside other people's mortal souls. You were made to have your own form. I know it was my ancestors' fault for interrupting the animation ritual, but I can't pay for their mistake for the rest of my life. This is my chance to set things right."

"You call this right? You can't be serious," Dark snapped, the anger finally spilling out of him. "What makes you so sure this crazy scientist's plan will work? That it won't kill or hurt you in the process? Does it look like these people care about peripheral damage?" he gestured fiercely at the boy's bandages. "_Set things right?_ Really, that's the best you can come up with? Exactly what kind of life do you suppose I would live here?"

"That's up to you, Dark," Daisuke said coolly, meeting the angel's gaze with a withdrawn expression.

Dark just stared at him. The look of crushed outrage on his face wouldn't recede into something more calm and collected, as much as he commanded it to. The boy only frowned back at him. It drove him crazy. If Daisuke could throw that cold barrier of detachment up against him, why couldn't he do the same? He was normally built of emotional self-restraint. But not against Daisuke. Never against Daisuke.

"You careless little bastard," he growled at his former wing host.

At that moment, the door behind them burst open, and a squad of men wearing black uniforms trampled in. Dark spun around just in time to see a tazer pointed at his chest. He started to shout for them to wait, but the device connected, jarring him unconscious. He tumbled backward and fell to the polished floor.

"Wait," Daisuke protested, staring in shock at the angel's fallen form. "He's under control, you don't have to-"

"Stay out of the way, kid," one of the men shot as they surrounded Dark, flipping him onto his stomach and cuffing his wrists behind his back.

"No, listen! He's with me!"

"If you mean he's a prisoner, then you're right," another man said dismissively as they hauled the angel up. One of the men pulled Dark up over his shoulder.

"Stop!" Daisuke reiterated, growing anxious now. He glanced down at the emergency button next to his bed and slammed it.

The men ignored him and swept Dark quickly from the room. Daisuke leaned over the side of his bed to stare back at Dark's giant wings hanging wide behind his carrier's back. His gut felt cold as the airlock sealed behind them.

The boy was left with an empty, confused feeling. "Dark…." He murmured. What had he said to him? Couldn't he have been gentler? But what else could get it through that angel's stubborn skull? He wondered where they were taking him. But once Trap got here, things would be straightened out. Trap knew how to handle this….probably.

**---o-O-O-o---**

Back in Trap's office, Trap and Shira's heads both jerked up as a loud buzzer sounded off the computer system.

"What the hell is that?" Shira demanded from her place on his couch, clearly startled.

"The kid's hitting the emergency button. Could be an accident," Trap said, standing up and pulling on his lab coat.

Shira's eyes went wide. "I'll check it out. It's probably just a mistake, right? You don't have to waste your time."

"I've got it," the scientist asserted calmly as he opened the door. "You're unusually involved today, Shira," he observed flatly before shutting it behind him.

That froze her to her spot on the sofa. He could sense that she was lingering. If she tried any further to keep him from seeing the Black Wings, it would be far too obvious what she was doing. If she lost his trust, she'd be unable to continue to perform her job. But at this rate, he would almost certainly encounter the strange winged man she'd seen in the elevator. If learning that man was here had any effect on Trap's research, she was looking at some serious consequences, far worse than just being taken off this assignment.

She sprang to her feet and burst out the door after trap, unclipping the holster on her gun.

**--oOooOooOo--**

**_To be continued…_**

**Hi guys,**

**Man, for whatever reason, this chapter was really hard to write. I kept revising and trashing certain parts, but now I'm finally satisfied with it. More on Krad is coming up, as well as the Harada girls' stakeout and some friction between Risa and Satoshi. And of course, Trap gets to meet Dark.**

**Thank you guys so much for your reviews and for waiting up so long for this chapter! I'm curious to know what you thought of it : )**

**It seems from the reviews that people are enjoying Krad's little adventure, so I'm really glad about that! As for all your great ideas about how he's going to get out of that mess, I think I will hold off for now on shouting out to you individually about it because I am terrible at keeping surprises and I just know I'll blab it. But at least one of you was on the money with your suggestion, and one of you gave me an idea I hadn't thought of! **

**A few shout outs –**

_TheLurkerOnline – I would be so flattered to see your drawing of Hattori if you do end up making one! It is really neat to me when I hear that the OCs are entertaining people; I think fanfiction sometimes gets stagnant if new characters aren't introduced to catalyze the interactions of the main characters. _

_PrincessofNyx – Yes, you're right, Hikari would have been the better choice there. Good catch! Thanks for the review!_

_To LeonaWriter, Stormshadow13, Sapphire, Kuchihateru, Dark Rose, and Kihomi-chan: You guys are so wonderful! Thank you very much for your reviews. I really want to comment on them specifically, but I seriously will blab something if I do. I promise more Krad next chapter _: )


	22. Control

**Part 22: Control**

Trap walked at a stiff clip down the hallway, ignoring the way his assistant was practically stepping on his heels. "You're clingy today," he commented to Shira as he turned the corner.

And stopped in his tracks. At the other end of the hallway, a team of Special Ops goons was walking toward the elevator. Two of the men were dragging an unconscious figure under the arms between them. The men noticed Trap and immediately began whispering to one another.

Trap took this as a sign to get a closer look while he still could. He ignored Shira's anxious gaze and advanced on the group, studying the figure they were carrying. Long violet hair hung haphazardly around the man's face and shoulders, too luminous to be human. But what really drew his attention was the enormous pair of black wings hanging dormant from the prisoner's back, flight feathers brushing against the ground as the stranger was tugged forward. "What is that?" Trap demanded sharply of the soldiers.

"Sir, this is classified," said one of the men carrying Dark, clearly uncertain of the chain of command where the scientist was concerned.

Trap frowned at the men sternly. "Well I'm looking at it, so it's not classified any more. That looks exactly like my test subject's description of the Black Wings. Which, by my information, should be sealed on some alternate plane. How did you acquire it?"

The men glanced at Shira uncertainly.

"I don't care what she knows. I'm asking you," he snapped without looking back at his colleague.

Shira cringed. Of course, Trap believed she was in on it. He had every reason to think so.

"An acquaintance of Mr. Gorudo came in contact with him, and we collected him and brought him here," the lead of the S.O. team conceded. "He slipped out of a secure cell and somehow got to this floor."

Trap looked at them hard. The soldiers seemed unsure what to make of the stiff expression, but Shira had worked with him long enough to know it meant the scientist was thinking.

"I want custody of him," Trap finally said coldly. If he was as stunned by the situation as Shira expected him to be, it certainly didn't show on his flatline expression. "Get Gorudo down here if you have to. I want him back in my lab."

"With all due respect, doctor, there isn't enough security on this level. Moreover, we have specific instructions that you aren't to be involved for the time being."

"Not involved? This is my research. Everything I've done on this project was to summon this _being_, and you're saying you don't want me_ involved?_" The anger was licking around the edges of his grey eyes. A scientist's concept of territory was nothing to be trifled with. Especially on this project.

"We will let the boss know of your concerns," the officer said with all the diplomacy of a cement wall. "But the prisoner needs to go back to confinement, and you aren't to see him. Until President Gorudo says otherwise, only Special Ops is to interact with-"

"Then I'll select the guard. The men you chose last time are obviously incompetent," Trap interrupted, reaching back and pulling Shira forward with a flat hand on her back. "She's Special Ops. I trust you have no issues with that?"

Shira tried not to look shocked. She was just trying to keep up with situation. She'd expected Trap to be angry with her for hiding the fact that the angel was here. To be fair, she had only known for about ten minutes, but she was the one who had tried to distract him while Special Ops retrieved its escaped prisoner. He had good reason to distrust her, but now he was proposing that she guard the Black Wings. Was he expecting her to act as his inside eyes where Gorudo didn't want him to be? Did he think she would actually do that for him? Or did he just want her off his research team bad enough to press for a reassignment? All she could do was go with it for the moment.

"That shouldn't be a problem…" the soldier said uneasily. Shira was a senior officer; they were in no position to refuse her. "But you still can't-"

"I know," Trap said crossly. "I'll speak with Gorudo." He walked firmly through the group that was crowding the hallway. He didn't afford a second glance to Shira, though he had to stare at the Black Wings as he passed on his way toward Daisuke's lab. He could find a way to deal with Special Ops later. There was still the matter of the emergency button, though he could guess now why it had been pushed. He was a scientist.

He would deal with one disaster at a time.

**- o0o0 O 0o0o -**

The hospital room was brightly lit with the morning sunlight. The bright rays warmed the young boy's face as he lay in bed, and he opened his eyes sleepily. He looked around the room, which was a blur of pastels and white. He stretched his arm over to the table that was next to his bed, fumbling for his glasses. He forgot about the IV tube in his hand and managed to lasso over a pile of fantasy novels in the process. His parents must have brought those for him while he was sleeping. Apparently his being hurt made them less disapproving of his bookishness for the time being.

Pulling the glasses onto his face, he took a clearer look at the room. A pitcher of flowers was sitting in the windowsill, as well as a card mottled with signatures. Jirou was still surprised that his classmates had sent him a card. He was hardly popular at school, with his shyness and all his weird hobbies. The teachers had probably arranged for the card and flowers. The boy smiled slightly at the sight of them anyway.

He moved to sit up and felt his leg begin to throb again. He reached down with his IV-free hand and touched the bandage on his thigh experimentally. The wound hurt, but not very much. They must have had him on an impressive regimen of drugs. This was the second time he'd woken since he'd been brought here. The first was to receive a visit from his parents late the night before.

He fidgeted with his IV tube and wondered what had happened to _him._

A knock at the door distracted him from his thoughts. He looked up as a middle-aged nurse opened the door. "Oh, you're awake," she said kindly, rolling in a cart with some breakfast foods on it. "Your mother is waiting outside. Shall I tell her you're awake?"

"Thanks," Jirou mumbled politely. "Um, by any chance, has a man with long golden hair come here?" he asked.

"A foreigner? No…it's only been your parents so far," the nurse said curiously.

"Thanks," the boy grinned at her as she excused herself from the room. His expression fell after she left. Of course he hadn't come here. A busy place like a hospital would probably be a nightmare for him. There was no way he'd put up with all that just to see him.

But what if the angel _couldn't_ come, he thought. What if he was hurt in that battle? He hadn't seen the end of it. Something could have happened. The nurses said that it was the blue-haired young man from the cave-in that brought him here. Surely his 'master' would have brought him here himself if it were possible, which meant he had to be hurt. The angel wouldn't have left him lying there wounded. Or would he?

_Krad,_ the name came back in the child's memory. That was what the blue-haired man had called the angel. Did that mean they knew each other?

He jerked his hand away from the IV tube as his mother walked in and came to his bedside. "Hi, Mom."

"Hi darling. How are you feeling?" the woman said, stroking his forehead.

"Fine. Can I walk yet?"

"We had them measure a pair of crutches," she said, gesturing toward the side of the room, where they were resting against the wall. "But the doctor says no walking today. You need to rest."

Jirou tried not to look as disappointed as he felt. "I'd really like to go to the park," he tried hopefully. Maybe the angel was there waiting for him. Yeah, right. There was no way he'd wait there this long. But he might be in the area.

"The doctor will probably discharge you tomorrow, and we'll take you wherever you'd like," his mother said, her tone indicating that it wasn't up for negotiation. "By the way, this may not be the best time to ask, but do you still have that credit card we gave you?"

Jirou paled. He'd given the card to the angel so he'd be able to buy food. "Uh, of course, in my wallet," he began bluffing, glancing around the room for wherever they'd put his clothes.

"It's okay, Jirou. We already know you don't have it. When you lose these things, it's very important that you tell us so that we can contact the company and have the card cancelled."

The boy blushed slightly. "Y-you cancelled it? But I use it," he pleaded.

"We'll have a new one delivered with a new number. Someone was making outrageous purchases on the old one, which tipped us off that it was lost. The police are looking into it, but really, you should have told us."

Jirou stared at his mother blankly. "What kind of outrageous purchases?" he asked in shock.

"Jewelry, expensive shoes, almost 30,000 yen at some fancy cosmetic boutique on Higurashi street," she said. "We knew right away they couldn't be yours. Even if you had a girlfriend you weren't telling us about, you know better than to be in that part of town."

The boy tensed. "Is that a dangerous area?" He asked tightly. The angel couldn't possibly value those things. Had he lost the card? Was he robbed? Or… Worse scenarios spilled through his imagination as he knotted his hands in the sheets.

"It's a place grown ups go when they want company," her mother explained somewhat awkwardly.

"You mean like Love Hotels?" Jirou asked.

This sent his mother into a near-hysterical blush. "A boy your age shouldn't know about those things," she scolded him to hide her embarrassment. "Anyway, there's no need to look so alarmed. Dad and I have taken care of it. You just need to think about getting better," she said, kissing him on the forehead. "I'll get out of your hair so you can eat some breakfast."

"Mom?" Jirou stopped her as she was about to step out the door. She paused and looked back at him. "Did the person who brought me here leave his name?"

"The front desk should have his address," she answered with a curious look.

"I was thinking of writing him a letter. To thank him," he said.

"Oh, that's sweet, dear. What a good way to pass the time here. I'll ask the nurse to bring you some paper and an envelope. I need to go to work, but I'll come see you tonight." She gave him a mellow smile. "You really are such a good boy."

"Thanks, Mom," he smiled as she left the room.

**- o0o0 O 0o0o -**

It was growing close to noon when voices in the room pulled Krad awake. His body felt awful. He flexed his hands experimentally and felt a stabbing ache run down his arms from where his wrists remained cuffed overhead. He opened his amber eyes to see the green-carpet floor and the bottle of water still resting against his foot. It reminded him of how thirsty he was. What time was it? Had it been a whole night? He'd let some petty human cage him an entire night?

He lifted his gaze across the room, following the sound of the voices that had woken him. Two figures stood by the staircase, speaking with their backs to him. As he brought them into focus, it was clear they were the woman, Midnight, and her silver-haired companion he had met the night before. Ryuusuke, she had called him.

"He's been hanging like that all night. If he doesn't come down off those cuffs and eat something soon, you're unlikely to get any use out of him," the man was saying in the same cool, even tone he'd used the night before.

"You seem uncomfortable with this, Ryuusuke. Could it be you're jealous of my new pet?"

"I think he's dangerous, and you're in over your head," the man said. "He isn't just another tough guy you brought in off the street. We don't even really know _what _he is. You've prevented his attacks so far, but if you keep him here indefinitely, I think he'll eventually find an opening. If he does, he could kill you."

"Not if I tame him first," she said, clearly amused by the challenge. "It doesn't matter what he is. After all, he's still a man, in every way that matters. I've investigated that."

"Well, I doubt he'll have the stamina for your affection in the state he's in," Ryuusuke contended.

Midnight turned toward him then, pressing a finger along his cheek. "You're being a bit argumentative, Ryuusuke," she said with a silky smirk. She leaned in toward him and he automatically stepped back. The small retreat only seemed to encourage her. She pursued him, pinning him back against the edge of a table that was sitting against the wall. Ignoring the obstacle, she pushed him further until he was forced to fall backward across the table. Midnight didn't hesitate to advance, leaning across him and pushing him down hard against the surface.

Ryuusuke took a sharp breath, but didn't resist this treatment. For the watching angel, it was difficult to believe his tolerance. "You want to do this here?" Ryuusuke asked Midnight uneasily.

She didn't answer him. She just pressed a hand over his mouth, pushing his head down to the table. Her other hand went to his chest and ripped his shirt open, sending a few buttons skittering across the floor. She pulled the fabric aside, revealing a smooth, muscled chest. She kissed the center of his chest and then licked it with a small, firm stroke of her tongue. Ryuusuke's breathing grew quicker, but he lay very still and made no sound. Then she placed her whole mouth down against his skin. He arched back, his eyes drifting half-shut, but his nails also dug against the surface of the table anxiously.

"You're such a shy man, Ryuusuke. Really, after challenging me so directly, the least punishment I could give you is to have you put on a little show for our guest," Midnight purred. Her mouth drifted lower, laying wet kisses on his stomach.

Ryuusuke instinctively glanced over to be sure the angel was still passed out. Instead, he found himself staring into the shocked yellow eyes of Midnight's new pet. Krad was staring at him with a mixture of horror and fascination. Ryuusuke gave the angel a strange look, saying nothing to him. Then Midnight's mouth went lower, her hands pulling aside the fly of his pants. Ryuusuke's expression twisted with a raw, extremely intimate urgency. Then he seemed to remember where this was happening and who he was making eye contact with, and he looked away from Krad's drilling stare, apparently embarrassed.

Krad didn't know what was more disturbing; that this was happening in front of him, or that he couldn't bring himself to look away. Midnight looked like she intended to have her way with this man, without regard for the angel's presence. That Ryuusuke was obviously uncomfortable with having an audience apparently made no difference to her. Based on what she'd said, she was probably getting off on his discomfort. But the angel understood the concept of people doing ugly things. What Krad couldn't understand was why the silver-haired man was tolerating it. Ryuusuke had said the night before that he was here by choice, that he didn't need a leash. It made no more sense to Krad now than it had then. This wasn't lovemaking. What he was watching was twisted and humiliating. If Midnight thought she could make him tolerate such treatment, she was in for a serious disappointment.

The angel found his footing and stood up straighter, taking the pressure off his wrists. He cleared his throat, glaring at Midnight. He wanted them to stop. Because he couldn't stop watching it, they needed to just…stop. He would have given anything for the strength to blow the woman into oblivion, but his body told him it wasn't even worth trying at the moment.

Midnight looked over at him in amusement. "Oh, my new pet is awake," she smiled, sliding her hands lower on Ryuusuke's body, dipping below the lip of his jeans. "Were you watching my little show?" She smirked as the angel's expression suddenly flatlined. "Oh, did I strike a nerve? Or did you want me to keep going?" she teased.

Krad grimaced at Midnight. "I will never be your pet," he seethed.

"Oh, don't be dishonest with me, Krad. I saw you watching. Unable to stop. You felt something. Could it be you want a piece of me," she said in a sultry voice. She leaned across Ryuusuke's muscular body and nipped the smooth skin of his throat, making the man draw a tense gasp. "Or could it be you weren't watching _me _at all? I can't say I could blame you. Ryuusuke can be _very _distracting."

"I have no interest in your sick charades," Krad growled quietly, but he looked spooked.

"Oh, am I off the target? When I spoke with my girl Angel last night, she was under the impression that you prefer men. Apparently you even had a master in the past?" Her hands and mouth abandoned Ryuusuke as she straightened and sauntered over to him, moving in close to his body. The flustered Ryuusuke immediately used the opportunity to face away from Krad and get himself in order. "I could arrange for things with you and Ryuusuke, you know," she whispered into his ear. "He's very open-minded when I ask him to be, and I'd hardly try to push someone against their sexuality."

Krad rolled his eyes. "I told you, I have no interest in _any _humans," he said harshly. "You and your pathetic slave over there both make me nauseous." It was no bluff; the angel really did feel a surging need to puke. The virile scent of Midnight's perfume too close to his face seemed to suck at the angel's empty stomach. He swallowed hard. "You will release me!" he commanded, arching his wings.

"Oh, my. It seems you've lost your temper. But I hardly think you can give orders to me when you can barely stand," she said darkly. She reached up and shoved hard into the angel's chest.

Krad stumbled back into the wall, hanging on his wrists again. A flash of energy glowed in his eyes. He immediately found his footing and propelled himself back at Midnight, throwing his head forward into hers with enough force to slam her backward to the floor. "I will not be kept here!" he roared, thrashing to the end of his chains.

"Midnight," Ryuusuke said, jumping forward. The dazed brunette was sprawling backward out of kicking range of the angel. By the time Ryuusuke reached her side, she was rising somewhat shakily back to her feet.

"I'm fine," she said sternly, waving him off. "In his condition, it's no surprise he's making stupid decisions." She stepped up to Krad, keeping a safer distance this time. "I'll give you a few hours to rest and make your choice. You're a tough nut to crack, honey, and I can appreciate the challenge. But when I come back down here, you will break, one way or another. I promise you that. Attack me again, and I will whip you raw and hang you until you starve," she said coldly, touching her forehead and then checking her hand for blood.

Krad only glared as she made her way up the stairs. He wanted her companion to leave as well, but Ryuusuke remained there with him. The angel felt breathless with anger and, he admitted, panic. He ignored the man and pulled harshly at the bonds on his wrists. He knew it wouldn't work, but that didn't stop his tantrum. When he finally ran out of energy to vent his anger, he stood gasping, his legs pitched outward to keep his balance.

"Are you all done with that?" Ryuusuke asked evenly, stepping toward the angel. Krad's posture locked up warily. "Steady," he said, bending down to grab the water bottle that was lying by the angel's feet. "You're wasting strength."

Klad turned a murderous glare on the man. "She will not be able to control me the way she plans. I am not a slave like you. I am free," he scowled.

"You don't look free at the moment," Ryuusuke said almost gently. There was no malice in his eyes as he met the angel's glare. "But I believe you. You aren't 'pet' material. If anything, you're into being in control. Maybe even more than she is."

"Then tell her she's wasting her time," Krad snapped.

"That's not how it works," the man laughed flatly. "You've become the ultimate challenge to her now. She wants to see you submit. She doesn't even care which of us you submit to; it will still be her victory, and that gets her off. She likes winning."

"It won't work with me," Krad shot back hotly.

"Monkeys and apes, right. Get your head together and listen to me," Ryuusuke said firmly. "If you're physically capable of the interest, you'd be best off finding a way to muster it by this afternoon, or at least make a damn good impression of it. And if you really swing the way Angel says you do, you'd be saving yourself a lot of trouble by saying so now. If you don't state your preference, Midnight's only going to try both ways by force until she gets results."

"I'll kill her first. I'll kill you all," Krad seethed.

"Whatever weird powers you have, you can't use them unless you eat. She's not dumb enough to let you do that until you've broken. I'm sure you see where that's going to lead if you don't cooperate," Ryuusuke sighed. He was a follower, not a fighter. The conversation was clearly tiring him. He unscrewed the cap on the water. "At least drink, or you won't even be able to think straight." He held the bottle up toward Krad's mouth.

"Release my hands and I'll drink it myself," Krad glowered.

"I'm submissive, not stupid. You're dehydrated, just let me hold it for you." Ryuusuke tried again to hold up the bottle.

Krad clenched his teeth and leaned out of range of the drink. "I will not be fed by you. Untie me!" he ordered.

"Are you an idiot? Who cares who's holding the bottle? If you keep this up, you're going to die. Do you get that?"

"Then I'll die!" Krad shouted so earnestly that Ryuusuke could only stare at him.

"You'd rather die than be fed?" he asked quietly, wanting to be sure he'd heard the angel right.

"Of course!" Krad's cold amber eyes burned with determination.

"That's not a matter of course. That's insane," Ryuusuke murmured, feeling a chill at the strange being's plainspoken resolve to die. From anyone else, it would have seemed like a bluff, but something told him Krad was serious.

Krad didn't respond to his comment. He leaned back into the wall and tried not to look like his adrenaline was hemorrhaging into exhaustion. The room fell into silence, and minutes passed as the silver-haired man studied the angel.

"Did your former master have wings?" He finally asked. Krad didn't respond. "Did you love him?" Ryuusuke pushed. "Why aren't you with him now?" The angel just ignored him. Ryuusuke rolled his eyes. "Unless you're absolutely serious about dying, when she comes later, you'd better work with her. And… if you're going to be this much of a control freak, you'll be better off asking to deal with me and not her, assuming you really can handle men."

Krad stared at him then, his stern expression actually cracking into twisted laughter. The human was actually hitting on him. This man's words were so absurd, it was impossible not to laugh. "So that is what this is about? It's not enough to have one person walk all over you. Now you want me to do it, too," he scoffed derisively. "When I kill your master, do you think I will allow you to follow me? I am nothing like her, and I have no use for you."

Ryuusuke blanched at the angel's ridicule. "You're completely out of your mind," he murmured uneasily. "I was just trying to help you see logic. I know you weren't looking at Midnight earlier. You were looking straight at me." He looked puzzled as Krad's expression revealed nothing but more dark amusement. He finally gave up and replaced the cap on the water bottle before turning and making his way to the stairs. "I'll be guarding the top of the stairs. When you decide you want the water, let me know."

Krad's eyes followed the silver-haired man as he finally left, watching until his ankles faded out of sight at the top of the stairs. The smile dropped from his face. Maybe, just maybe, amidst all the disgust, he had been excited watching Midnight's slave earlier, for a moment. That was only a normal reaction to witnessing something like that. It was the kind of thing you couldn't stop looking at; it had nothing to do with real attraction. These people were crazy. This whole thing was crazy. He leaned deeper against the wall, breathing deeply to fight the nausea that was overwhelming him. He would die here, unless he opened himself to one of them. Was he being too stubborn? Maybe it would be worthwhile to play along. He would live much longer than they would. An opportunity would eventually come, and then he could exact his revenge tenfold upon the human race. What harm could he possibly cause them if he simply died on their terms?

No, he was free. He did not belong to anyone. He was free, and he had pride, and he would not yield himself that way. Not to these people. Not like this! "Wretched humans," he seethed, forcing down bile. This was no time to make his empty stomach emptier. He needed to make his remaining strength count.

He looked up at his aching wrists hanging against their metal restraints, and an idea took him. Maybe it was hunger making him crazy, but it struck him as simple. These cuffs were all that was really stopping him from leaving. He only needed to free his hands, and he'd at least have a chance at getting past whatever was upstairs. He took stock of his mental resources. He could probably pull off enough power to blow apart the shackles.

Wolves were known to chew off their own legs rather than remain in a hunter's trap. If they could do it…

So could he.

**- o0o0 O 0o0o -**

_**To be continued! **_

_**Muhaha. Krad has control issues! Don't worry, this isn't going to turn into a Saw movie. Don't be strangers, I'd love to hear what you guys think!**_

_**Some shout outs:**_

Marium, kaida-karasu, Naito no megami: It's so great to hear from you guys, and I'm really glad you're enjoying it! Your feedback is extremely motivating, I hope you keep reading : )

X Lost Fairytale: I'm so glad you're still reading despite my slow updates! Hope this was an acceptable dose of Krad : ))

Dark Hearted Shinobi: Thank you very much for the kind review! And yes, please! I absolutely love fan art, and it would make me feel warm and fuzzy : )

TheEvilMuffinToaster: (Your name is awesome.) Yeah, Dark is getting a bad deal in the story so far. It was actually Dark who was calling Daisuke a selfish bastard, for the reasons you mentioned. But yes, he's really not getting his due. I think you'll find at least one of the characters making it up to him in the next few chapters. Hopefully this part explained where Jirou is. His role in the story is definitely not over : )

Stormshadow13: Ooh, such a long, awesomely detailed review! I hear you re: Daisuke. I'd be lying if I said he was a character I enjoyed in the original series. Overall, the series seemed to paint him as highly impressionable, always being puppeted to some extent by his mom, his friends, and even Dark. I like to see characters with backbones. The "poor me, I never asked to be the hero" attitude didn't impress me, and this is how I see it playing out in his teenage years. At least he has the instinct to protect his girlfriend, and he doesn't really _want_ anyone to get hurt, so I'll allow him one redeeming quality.

Good point that Gorudo doesn't know about Krad. That will come into play later in the story. Also, I did go and replay the last episode to look closer at that fight scene. When I watched it casually, I had thought Dark just enveloped Krad in the ball of energy, but looking at it again, you are right. Those wings chop clean off; I was really surprised. I may leave the story as it is, but it's a very interesting point. Krad's small acts of kindness keep falling under the radar of Dark and the others so far, but he will have his moment to shine : )


	23. Illusions

Risa jumped as the rear door of the van unlatched with a loud clack and swung open, jiggling the veterinary equipment hanging from the wall. She sat up straighter in the pile of blankets she was nested in as Hattori's head poked in from outside.

"Sorry, did I startle you?" the vet asked the tired-looking girl as he climbed into the van and slammed the door behind him. He was carrying a shopping bag and a drink holder with four coffees in it.

"It's fine," she said, giving her bloodshot eyes a rub with one hand. Her other hand was tightly holding the stone Dark had given her.

"You haven't been crying, have you?" he asked her as he set the supplies down and thunked into the bench across from hers.

"No, I just haven't slept," she mumbled, reaching out to steal one of the coffees.

"Have you heard anything?" Hattori asked.

Risa shook her head, and the vet crossed his arms with a vexed expression.

"Maybe you should hand that to me for a while and get some sleep," he suggested. "If I'm going to be stuck here, I may as well make myself useful. Someone's going to notice the van if I keep going out for coffee to keep you awake.

"Just a little longer," Risa told him, looking down at the stone. She stretched her fingers out stiffly and then curled them around it again. "We have to hear something soon."

"Maybe something happened to break the connection," Hattori suggested.

"No…after his voice cut out, there were footsteps. They must have done something to hurt him, or he'd have said something by now." There was restrained anger in her voice, a brooding anxiety that Hattori knew wasn't aimed at him. Ever since she'd overheard Dark and Daisuke's argument the night before, she had seemed almost fiercely diligent in her vigil over the stone's transmissions.

"I can let you know the moment I hear something," the vet offered.

"Thanks, but I'd like to do it myself," she asserted, her brown eyes flicking to his and asserting that it wasn't up for debate. "He entrusted this to me. If there's something he wants me to hear, I'm going to be there to hear it." She didn't say the whole truth, that she wanted Dark to know she was there for him. Even though he never seemed to need anyone, and he always downplayed her concerns with jokes and smiles, she just couldn't believe he didn't need more than that. People needed other people, and she believed Dark was no exception. He was always so impossible to read, so agonizingly locked down like a nuclear reactor, but after what had happened last night, he _had _to be feeling at least a little bit upset. No one could really be fine after something like that. What was he going through now? Was he in pain? Hurt? Angry?

The angel had never opened up to her in a situation like this, but if he did – if, for any reason, he decided that this time, it would be easier if he could tell at least one person what he felt – she was determined to be ready for him. "How is he going to get out of this?" she asked openly, though Hattori was the only other person in the van.

"Well, if the kid wants to try this experiment they were talking about, I suppose he doesn't have much choice. All his other options depend on getting your friend to safety first," Hattori mused between swigs of coffee.

"He could break free and take Daisuke from the building. Get them both out safely, and figure the rest out later."

The vet shook his head thoughtfully. "The boy would just be at risk again. Based on what he said about his intentions, he won't willingly open Daisuke up to that risk."

"That was _before_ Daisuke said those things to him." Risa's eyes lit up with sympathetic astonishment. "Right to his face…like he wasn't even a person. It was like Dark meant nothing to him…all that time they were together, the bond between their souls…like he wanted to be rid of it all and couldn't care less what happened to Dark in the process. I just can't believe Daisuke could be so cruel."

Hattori observed her for a moment. Her words reminded him of what he heard every day in his practice. Good samaritans or police officers would bring in abused or abandoned pets of all shapes and sizes, and ask him how anyone could do something so awful to another living thing. It was especially bad with the dogs, a species characterized by such unconditional loyalty and trust. As if he could explain the vast insufficiencies of human nature and cause it all to equal something fair and sensible.

"You may be right, and I can't say I'd blame him if he changed his mind and got the hell out of there. People stink, what can I tell you," the vet answered her. "But while I haven't met this friend of yours, and I barely know bird-boy aside from his skeletal structure and his bad sense of humor, he didn't give the impression he would ditch the kid for something like this. He seemed pretty obsessed with saving him."

"Yeah," Risa concurred heavily. "But where does that end? If the experiment goes off without a hitch, and they release Daisuke, how will Dark get himself out?"

"He said that he wouldn't sacrifice himself for the kid. He must have a plan." He thought for a second, and shrugged. "Unless, of course, he's making it all up as he goes along."

Risa sighed. Dark had to know what he was doing, right? He always had a plan, and his plans always seemed to work. The only problem was that the last plan he successfully executed involved sacrificing himself forever to protect them all. "What would even happen to him without a wing host?"

Hattori gave her an incredulous look. "Like I would know. You know, you seem awfully concerned about this guy. What's the deal, are you thinking of ditching your current catch for a more feathery one?"

Risa glared back at him, but before she could retort, the sharp wail of her cell phone rang loudly from where sat on top of a plastic bin next to Hattori. The vet picked it up, read the display and held it up so she could see it. The letters SATOPUFF3 scrolled across the screen. "Satopuff? Seriously?" Hattori snickered. Risa rolled her eyes and gestured for him to pick it up.

Hattori gave her one more teasing look before opening the phone. "Well, if it isn't the one who tricked me into closing my practice to sit in a van all day for some freak I don't even know," he greeted the boy cheerfully.

"How are things going?" Satoshi asked rigidly from the other end of the line.

"Still nothing since last night. Risa heard footsteps and a door closing. No more voices, nothing from Daisuke. I assume they've got him in some sort of cell again. Otherwise, we've been listening to dead air."

"Can I speak with Risa?"

Hattori glanced over at the girl, who gave him a warning look. The vet tilted his head and widened his eyes insistently. Sighing, Risa reached out and took the phone. "It's me," she said.

"How are you?" Satoshi asked carefully.

"Caffeinated," she answered him. "How are you and Riku?"

"Still doing fine, sleeping on my couch. I think it's best we all continue to stay clear of your house, now that Gorudo knows where it is, just in case."

"Yeah, it would have been kind of nice to _not_ have invited his goons over to abduct our friend."

"Risa, we've talked about this."

"I'm still mad at you, Sato."

"You know this was the only way to handle the situation."

"Oh, really? No other possible way?" she demanded sarcastically.

"He chose this, Risa! It was his own idea."

"That doesn't make it okay. How long did it take Dark to convince you to put a ribbon on his head and hand him over to the goons? Five seconds? A minute? He was upset, Sato. He wasn't thinking clearly." Her tone was oddly gentle, despite her disapproving words. She didn't want to yell at him, but she was trying to make him understand.

"He always thinks clearly. He's a phantom thief, he knows what he's doing."

"That doesn't mean he can't make rash decisions. We're his friends, and we're supposed to stop him from doing crazy things."

"That's a naïve solution for a serious situation."

"Well, I think _your _solutions are dispassionate."

"Ok, I'll admit I didn't foresee Daisuke cooperating with Gorudo. But Dark is my ally, not my friend," Satoshi said icily. "We share an objective, and this plan will achieve it. I can't be responsible for his judgment. If you were in my shoes, I think you would have done the same thing."

"No…that's the problem, Sato. I wouldn't."

Awkward static crackled over the silent line. "Well, we both know that we see a lot of things differently. Maybe that's important. Maybe we each need someone to bring out the opposites in each other."

Risa frowned soberly. "I'm not sure that's what _I_ need, Satoshi. Not in a lover. Not to this extent."

"Couples have differences, Risa," Satoshi said quietly. He sounded tired, and she knew by his tone that he didn't want to talk about it.

Over the line, she could hear his doorbell ring. She pressed on quietly, "Not like this, they don't. On little things, yes, diversity is good. But shouldn't lovers be able to share the big things? The important things?"

"What are you trying to say?" he asked her flatly, an edge of tired dread permeating the pauses in his speech. The conversation was making him tense, and he was annoyed by the interruption from outside. Who in the world was ringing his doorbell this early? He held the phone to his ear with one hand while using the other to produce a police-issued glock from his desk drawer. He tried to keep his focus on his conversation with Risa as he peered out the corner of his window to try to get a clear view of who was outside. There was no good line of sight, though he didn't see any vehicles on the street. He stepped away from the window and tried to think of how he would react if Risa broke up with him here. How _would _he react to that?

Silence sucked through the phone line again like a numbing vacuum. "You know that I love you, Sato, and I know you're a good person who tries to do what's best… But I need some more time to forgive you for this. And we'll need to talk about it. We both know this isn't just about this one time, and it isn't going to go away."

"Yeah," Satoshi affirmed rather grimly, because it was true. The doorbell rang again, twice in a row. "I'd better check on that."

"Be careful," Risa said.

"I will," Satoshi confirmed before stuffing the phone in his pocket. He switched off the safety on his gun and walked to the front door, rising on his toes to peer out the sight hole. He saw nobody outside. No one in front of the door, no one on the walk. The city street was flowing smoothly with normal traffic, with no unusual vehicles parked at the side. He nearly jumped out of his skin as the bell rang again, even as he stared at an empty front stoop.

He glanced into the other room. Riku was still asleep, thankfully. He cocked the gun, put his hand on the knob, and threw the door wide in a sudden whoosh, immediately dropping to one knee and taking aim at whatever showed up on the other side.

Standing just outside the door, a very familiar boy blinked at him with an alarmed expression and threw up his hands, dropping both of his crutches. Satoshi's eyes widened in shock as he registered the kid, who immediately lost his balance in the panicked gesture and began teetering backward toward the front steps.

Satoshi ground his teeth and threw his weapon to the floor as he sprawled forward to catch the kid by the front of his shirt and tug him forward, away from the concrete stairs. The boy's legs jelloed beneath him and he latched onto Satoshi with both arms for balance as his crutches landed in the shrubs outside the door.

"How come you have a gun?" the boy asked, staring at the weapon that had spun to the end of the hall.

"Never mind that, why aren't you in the hospital? How the heck did you get here?" Satoshi demanded.

Jirou hung onto him for dear life as he stared up Satoshi's chest to look into the blue-haired boy's tense eyes. The kid's expression was scared, yet determined.

"I need your help."

**--o0oO~0~Oo0o--**

"_Don't forget, Dark."_

"_Hm?"_

"_I'm inside of you."_

"_Daisuke…"_

"_I won't forget about you. I never will!"_

_**Liar.**_

---

The room was chilly and eerily silent. Shira stood up from her chair in the corner and walked to the far wall, where the Black Wings was still lying unconscious on a low cot. The angel's sleep was so still that it took concentration to be sure he was breathing. She avoided staring at his bare torso. The slow rise and fall of his ribs, firm muscles stretched under taut, warm skin, and the newly bandaged tazer burn on his chest all bore evidence that he was undeniably alive. In fact, everything about him seemed to exude life. Even asleep, it was strangely exhilarating just to look at him. Could he really be a manmade work of art? Then again, maybe that overflowing sense of vitality was exactly what made him art. She'd never had such a strange feeling from looking at a human, that was for sure.

He'd been out for quite a while. Thanks to Trap appointing her to take charge of the angel, she'd been guarding him all night, and it was now well past sunrise. Well, it wasn't a big surprise her ward was asleep. A tazer to the chest was a real jolt to the system, assuming his body worked the way humans' did. Shira had spent the first few hours after Dark's recapture studying the surveillance footage of his encounter with the Niwa boy. She'd only half-believed the angel in the elevator when he said he wasn't here to escape, but after watching his conversation with the boy several times, she was beginning to really believe it. Apparently, the kid meant quite a bit to the strange being, which would make her life easier.

But she still wasn't sure, based on what had been said, if the Black Wings would be willing to fully cooperate with Trap's work. He had not seemed happy about the boy's request to be separated. Well, at this point, his cooperation didn't matter anyway. But she still had a lot of information to get from him when he woke up. "Just how long are you going to sleep?" she muttered under her breath.

"Oh, do you need company?" a suave voice answered her. The angel opened one vivid lavender eye to study her alertly.

Shira nearly stumbled back from the angel. "You weren't asleep?" she demanded, flushing.

"Why would I be asleep?" Dark scoffed, pulling his arms up behind his head to look at her. The movement made the muscles in his chest stretch out invitingly. Shira had to focus to keep her glare aimed at his face.

"What are you doing lying there with your eyes closed, then?" she snapped, sounding more flustered than she wanted to.

"Thinking," he said frankly. Then he smiled, and his serious tone became teasing. "And you seemed to be admiring me, so I hardly wanted to interrupt that."

The color on Shira's face deepened. "Who would admire you, freak?"

"Most people tend to," he bragged, giving a small shrug that made Shira curse the doctors for taking the angel's shirt when they treated the tazer burn. So he was in shape. Who wouldn't be distracted? To her horror, Dark seemed to notice her discomfort. "If this is awkward, I can close my eyes again," he smiled.

"Don't be stupid!" she growled. "Watching you is my job, not my hobby."

Dark sat up on the cot with a down-to-business look, his wings folding out gracefully behind him. "And will it be just you admiring me today? Don't tell me I've been demoted. I had four guards all to myself last time."

"Don't bother fishing. I'm not telling you how many guards you have to contend with," Shira said simply, crossing her arms. "Or does it even matter? Our boss thinks you'll try to escape again, but I'm not so sure."

Dark raised an eyebrow at her. Now she was the one fishing. "Oh? Trying to figure me out, are we?" he smirked brazenly.

"I listened to security footage of your little meeting with the Niwa boy last night. It sounded like you intend to cooperate."

Dark's eyes seemed to lose focus on her.

'_We can each live like normal people, in privacy.' _Daisuke's chilled words stung in his memory. _'I can't pay for their mistake for the rest of my life.' _

_**Mistake? Thoughtless brat.**_

"Hey. I'm talking to you," Shira pressed, studying him strangely. It was hard not to stare at him in the first place, but his zoning out made it worse.

Dark clicked back into focus and locked onto her gaze confidently. "I might be willing to negotiate if you let the boy go first."

"We can't let the boy go; we need him here to perform the operation to separate your minds."

Dark looked at her for a long second, as if he'd noticed something that confused him.

"What is it?" Shira demanded.

The angel focused on her eyes rather seriously, studying her. She just stared back in annoyed confusion. No, he thought, she didn't know. Overtly ignoring her question, he asked, "Suppose I were to cooperate with your little mad science experiment. Would you release him?"

"If it's successful. Gorudo wants just the Black Wings, with no humans riding piggyback." Shira felt strange saying the words. When she'd listened to his conversation with the boy, she thought the angel seemed deeply struck by the idea of being separated, but she couldn't pick up on any reluctance in his tone now.

Dark smirked at her as if he knew some kind of secret. "Your boss wants to complete the original Black Wings? That's why you think he wants me?" he scoffed.

"What's funny about that?"

_You're missing half of it, _Dark thought in amusement. But that was only the tip of the iceberg. "I would really like to meet this boss of yours," he smiled.

"You will eventually," Shira said, crossing her arms. "After all we had to go through to obtain you, I'm sure he'll want to meet you as well."

"And what exactly do you suppose prompted all this effort? Somehow I doubt he's an art person. Why should he care about my bond with Daisuke, as long as I'm here?"

Again, Shira got the strange feeling that he knew something she didn't, like he was somehow trying to make her get it on her own. Or maybe testing to see if she already knew. "He doesn't need a reason to keep what belongs to him, and you don't need to worry about his motives. Don't think for a second that you can pull another escape from here."

Dark smiled again, but it wasn't a happy smile. "I think we both know it has nothing to do with whether I _can_," he said.

Shira blinked at him, because his false expression somehow hurt to look at. Dark seemed to notice her reaction and his face cleared as if that aching look had never been there.

"So we do this 'operation' your boss is so bent on, and then what? I just hang around here? Fit myself into the corporate lifestyle? Grumble about management, sleep during meetings, steal office supplies?" He showed her an amused smile. "Piece of cake. Are Fridays casual, because I really don't own a lot of clothes?"

She sighed at his suddenly joking manner. She couldn't make heads or tales of him. All she was really sure of was that she was getting an act. As if to confirm that he was exasperating her deliberately, the angel returned her glare with a smug grin. Shira glowered at him. "Don't get crazy ideas. I don't know what Gorudo's plans are, but you can bet you won't be wandering around the building with the other employees."

"It really doesn't bother you to not know his plans?" Dark asked her curiously, focusing in on her. His violet orbs seemed to be peering into her soul. Again, that sense that he was testing her.

"It's not my business to know his mind. I'm here to do my job," she said flatly.

"And your job is more important to you than your conscience?"

Shira's tone grew angry. "This is hardly a crisis of conscience. You're a commissioned property of Mr. Gorudo. You're a statue, for god's sake!"

"Do I really look like a statue to you?" Dark asked her coldly. He watched her expression for a sign of doubt, but she only looked angry.

"Yes," she said flatly. "A very expensive one. And if you're thinking I'm going to be some kind of ally to you because of what happened in the elevator, forget it right now. I'm not here to keep you company, and I have no reservations about my work. I won't be psychoanalyzed by some freak artificial lifeform."

"You don't mean any of that," Dark contested in a low voice.

"Oh, I really do," she returned icily. "Don't tell me how to be human, Black Wings. You wouldn't know a damned thing about it."

The angel just looked at her, leaving a torturous silence in the room. It was impossible to tell from his expression what he was thinking. _'Did that actually hurt him?' _she wondered as she met his stare with a cold look. At least he wasn't pressing on and on about Gorudo's motives anymore.

"Well, I have been called a sociopath before," he finally said, his mouth working into a mechanical grin. She expected him to follow it up with something else, but he didn't. He just took a long pause. "This conversation is just riveting, but I actually need some privacy," he finally said, gesturing with his head toward the toilet that was sitting unscreened in the corner of the cell.

Shira glanced at the lavatory and back to the angel. Seriously? It was hard to imagine him having biological needs, but what did she know? "You have two minutes," she said, walking to the exit. She pressed her thumb onto a panel on the wall, and the heavy door slid open. It closed directly behind her.

Dark waited to hear the latch seal, and then he didn't move. The room was oppressively silent. He took a deep, frustrated sigh, scrambling his hair with both hands. Shira's words only seemed to magnify the endless mental rerun of his fight with Daisuke the night before. How could they possibly believe the things they said? Wasn't it obvious that he had the power to think and feel? He'd always believed that at heart, even if they did wrong, humans were a miraculous race that collectively understood and valued love and beauty. That treasured loyalty. Now, he could feel that confidence faltering. Was it possible he'd been mistaken? Had Krad been right all along? How could loving beings be capable of this kind of cruelty?

Well, that was irrelevant at the moment. Daisuke was still in trouble, whether he realized it or not, and this latest development made it all the more important that the angel stay focused. He couldn't afford to care about disillusionment or isolation right now. He had to stay in control.

"Whoever's listening, hold your position outside. Everything's fine for right now," he whispered, knowing the stone he'd given Risa was relaying every sound around him. There was no reason for Risa or the others to get involved at the moment. This was nothing he couldn't handle, and his immediate decision was almost too simple. Even if the boy's life weren't already hanging in the balance, his pride certainly wasn't going to let him stay where he wasn't wanted. Assuming they could actually do what they claimed, he had to let Daisuke go. He leaned forward and clenched a fist absently against his chest. A suffocating pressure was building inside him.

He blinked hard and looked around for a distraction. The walls were white and impersonal and meaningless. It was reminiscent of the gray world he'd been sealed in for the last two years. Except Krad wasn't here, pain in the butt though he was. And from now on, neither was Daisuke.

_**Never forget me? **_

_**Liar.**_

He drew an erratic breath. He couldn't afford to think about this, and yet he couldn't stop. There was no way to ignore that fact that here, he was just a very fancy statue, bought and paid for, as Satoshi had said. And Daisuke expected him to stay in this place and behave like property. How could the boy ask such a thing, knowing his soul the way he did? This place was like hell to him. The angel clenched his teeth in frustration, his lips pulling back. He seriously considered blowing something up. Why couldn't he make himself think of something that didn't hurt? His chest felt ready to burst.

It didn't make sense. This wasn't like him at all. He was never this sensitive; his nerves shouldn't be this raw. But everything seemed to be disintegrating, all the foundations of his reality wilting, twisting into something that was nonsensical and ugly. And he didn't understand any of it, which meant he didn't know how he was supposed to fix it, which was positively maddening to his practical mind. Maybe what he thought he knew had ever existed in the first place? He opened and closed his hand pensively, letting a ball of black magic form in his palm and then disperse each time he closed it. It was his way of pacing. He found himself thinking of Risa's words from after the earthquake. That people went crazy if they didn't tell anyone what they were feeling. Was that what this was? Was he going crazy?

Right now, she was probably listening to every word he said. If he chose, he could spill all these thoughts out, throw them into her lap and see if she made sense of them. So why didn't he? Why couldn't he think straight? The angel grimaced and pressed his fist back against his ribs. Deep breaths did nothing to quell this awful feeling. _**Breathe. Just breathe, and let it pass,**_ he told himself. _**It has to pass. **_

**--o-O0O-o--**

There was nobody else present in the small outer chamber of the cell, though she knew several armed guards were posted in the hall. Of course, the 'privacy' was just a facade. Orders were to not leave the angel unattended for a second, so Shira had several cameras positioned in the room. Not that she had a particular desire to watch the strange being relieve himself.

She decided to give him some privacy after all. The big wigs didn't need to know. Maybe she was feeling just a little bit guilty. She waited a minute or so, still thinking about the conversation she'd just had. About the expression on the Black Wings' face, and his tone of voice. His questions had gotten to her. Had her response been over the line? Was it possible that he really had human emotions?

She walked to a monitor on the wall and a splitscreen image of the angel's cell flashed to life. But the angel hadn't moved. He was sitting on the bed, staring at nothing she could discern, with his left fist pressed firmly to his chest. His shoulders rose and fell as he took several long breaths. Shira stared at the angel's form on the monitor. Was his burn hurting him? At any rate, it was obvious he'd fooled her into leaving the room for nothing. At that realization, good old anger kicked back in.

She slammed her thumb against the lock on the door, storming back into his cell. "This isn't a game. You don't get alone time whenever you feel like asking for it," she snapped at him as the door closed again behind her.

Dark straightened quickly and flashed his gaze to meet hers. Whatever was on his face buried itself like a worm under a smug grin. "Funny, it seemed to work pretty well," he chided.

"Don't play around. What's wrong with your chest?" she demanded.

"Nothing," he said with a stern glint in his eyes. The last thing he needed was for Risa to hear that and think something was up.

"I have cameras in this room."

"Yes, I know that now, thank you," Dark smiled.

Shira did not seem amused. "I saw you breathing strangely. If something happens to you, Gorudo will have me cremated."

"He sounds like such a nice guy. You still won't tell me why you're working for him?" Dark pressed.

"We're off that subject, permanently," Shira growled. "I asked you a question." Why did he seem so sure that she had to have a good reason to do someone's dirty work? What was he, Santa Claus?

"I'll answer yours when you answer mine," Dark smirked.

"You're being awfully cavalier for a prisoner," Shira said coldly. "I could make your time here hell and enjoy every minute of it."

"No, you couldn't," Dark said.

"I'm dying to know what makes you so sure," she scoffed, drawing her gun and training it on his shoulder.

"I'm not." A layer of bravado peeled from his voice as he spoke the words, and suddenly he sounded almost…tired. If he was concerned about the gun, he didn't show it. "I just want to believe that you couldn't."

Shira couldn't make sense of that answer, but something in his voice made her abandon the argument. She had the oddest feeling that she'd just disappointed him. Not that that was her problem. "Stand up and walk to the wall," she ordered, pointing the gun at him halfheartedly. "I need to be sure nothing's wrong with you."

Dark rolled his eyes and stood up, his wings stretching like tapestries behind him as he crossed the room effortlessly. Nothing seemed wrong with his chest now. The angel stopped a few feet away from her and crossed his arms. "There you go. No damage on the merchandise," he reassured her. "But I could go a few more laps, if you're enjoying the show."

The abrupt flush in the guard's cheeks inspired a satisfied grin from the angel. Shira just scowled at him. Was there really nothing wrong with him? "I have an errand to run," she said, holstering the gun. "I'll deal with you later. My men will be watching, so don't try anything fancy."

Dark smirked. "Believe me, if I actually tried something fancy, it wouldn't make a difference who was watching."

Shira frowned, because she was starting to believe him about that. "Behave yourself," she ordered, unlocking the door.

"Wait," Dark called after her, earnest enough to make her look back. "Let me talk to Trap."

"Trap is forbidden to see you," she replied flatly. She couldn't help but remember, just a little regretfully, how clearly her former research partner had snubbed her after the incident in the hall. Yet despite the fact that he clearly thought she'd backstabbed him, he had appointed her to take on the role of the Black Wings' guardian in his place. That, she couldn't understand. "Stay put and don't do anything stupid."

"Then let me talk to Daisuke," the angel followed up. "I need to speak with him. Seriously."

Her red hair glinted in the neon light as she shook her head in disbelief. "You're not going anywhere."

"I don't need to," Dark persisted. "Just turn that machine off for five minutes, so I can reach his mind."

"What machine?" Shira asked, baffled.

"The one you have him hooked up to. It's muting the link between us."

His guard blinked as she remembered that part of the conversation between the boy and the angel last night. Oh, the irony. "I hate to burst your bubble, but that machine's not blocking anything." She narrowed her eyes at the blank look on his face. "All our-.. all of Trap's research suggests that the kid's mind is connected with yours through a conscious link. It takes two willing minds to keep it open. The second we told him we'd found your thought patterns running around in his, he freaked out and broke off the signal himself. It almost ruined the whole project. But then we found a way to control the strength of the link through his subconscious. Not that I get the technicals of any of it, but it's the same control Trap can use to separate you when it's time." She noted that the angel was still just staring her. Had he not understood? "To put it simply, that machine isn't blocking the link between you. It's amplifying it. Without it, we'd have nothing to research. The kid's obviously forged his own theories, but he doesn't have a clue."

Dark swallowed, looking like he was out to bore a hole through her with his violet eyes. She had no idea what to make of that look. "If you just want me unlinked to Daisuke, then why don't you switch that machine off and let him go now?" he challenged her coldly. She was slightly surprised to realize he was angry, though it wasn't clear if it was necessarily directed at her.

She also realized she didn't know the answer to his question. Moreover, he didn't appear to expect her to. Again, it was like she was a step behind somehow, and he was trying to make her catch up. What was it he thought he knew? Or was this some kind of mind game? "I don't have time for this," she snapped, turning and disappearing into the next room.

**--oOoOo--**

**To be continued!**

**Thinking and rethinking about this chapter has basically distracted me constantly for the last few weeks, which has made me rather spacey at work, but I finally got the time to sit down and write it out! **

**Coming up next, Krad reaches his limit. Will Satoshi be willing to search for him?**

**Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know your comments and reactions if you have a minute, because I'd love to hear them : ) **

Some shout outs:

Leonawriter – I really appreciated reading your detailed review! You're dead-on about Jirou : )

Moondrops – Haha, you are twisted! I like it! Thanks for the review!

Evilmuffintoaster – Those fan girls might end up disappointed after all…or perhaps they'll actually be the opposite -wink-. Thanks so much for the review!

Animeannie – Yeah….I'm being mean to Krad. But don't worry, I don't have the stomach to make him literally bite off his wrists!

Stormshadow13 – I hereby promise that Dark has not seen the last of his vet : )

Marium – Thanks so much for reviewing! Oh, the premise of the Saw movies is always something sadistic and manipulative. Think like "Lock a guy in a room. Handcuff one arm to the wall. Place food on the other side of the room. Set a saw on the floor next to him. Bust out the popcorn and wait." Not my kind of movie! As mean as I tend to be to my characters, I'll try not to be THAT awful.

Fireflower19 – I'm so thrilled you're enjoying it so far! Hopefully I didn't stir up bad memories with the Krad thing, but I'm also sorta excited that the scene managed to have some impact. You can never really be sure if a scene does what you're trying to make it do until someone lets you know about it, so thank you so much for the feedback!

Kaida-karasu – Thanks a million for your kind words, reviews like yours always help me motivate myself!

Dark hearted shinobi – You are awesome! That is all.


	24. The Soul's Call

**Part 24 – The Soul's Call**

Satoshi stared at the child that was clinging to his thighs for dear life, completely baffled. "My help? You're supposed to be in the hospital! How did you even find this place?" he demanded of the boy.

Jirou shook his head against the leg of Satoshi's jeans. "You left your address with the nurse, and she gave it to me, and I snuck out. I had to find you, you're the only other one who knows him!"

"Knows who? The nurse?" Satoshi demanded, confused and wondering if he was going to end up facing some sort of kidnapping charge.

"No, the angel," Jirou said, looking at Satoshi eagerly. "I heard you talking to him when you saved me. You knew him, you even knew his name!"

Satoshi felt his stomach tighten as an image of the blonde angel as he'd last seen him flashed through his mind. "Krad?" he asked the boy suspiciously.

"Yes!" The kid's face lit up at Krad's name in a way Satoshi would never have believed without seeing it directly. Great, the kid had some sort of weird obsession with Krad. Now he'd seen everything.

"What about him?"

"I think he's in trouble. We need to help him," Jirou said, looking up at the blue-eyed teen eagerly.

Satoshi's expression soured as he eyed the child impatiently. "What makes you think he's in trouble?" he scoffed.

"Someone's buying makeup with my credit card!" the boy exclaimed seriously, as if this explained everything.

Satoshi rolled his eyes and hooked his hands under the kid's arms, prying him off his legs and carrying him at arm's length into the next room. "Give me your name. I'm calling your parents," he said, setting the injured kid down on an armchair across from where Riku was still asleep like a rock. Those pain killers they'd given her for her ankle apparently really knocked her out.

"No!" Jirou protested, "Please, you've really got to help him! He was being careful with the card before. Now there are charges all over it…"

"He stole your credit card?" Satoshi interrogated.

"I gave it to him!"

The blue-haired boy had to stifle a guffaw. "You're telling me you _gave_ _Krad_ your credit card?" He could have choked when the kid nodded his head seriously. "What exactly possessed you to do that?"

"He needed it to eat," Jirou answered defensively. "So I just told him to use it."

"So you've been in regular contact with him?" Satoshi asked skeptically. It sounded angrier than he'd meant it. What was wrong with him, snapping at a little kid? The strangest sense of antagonism was building in him. Was he actually jealous?

"Well…no, not exactly," the boy said sheepishly, talking into his lap. "He says I'm too noisy and that I'm a useless pest, but I sometimes saw him after school."

Satoshi stared at the boy, trying to make some kind of sense of his story. Had Krad actually sought out a human who looked gullible enough to provide him with a source of cash? Considering how rarely he'd let the angel gain the upper hand and have control, he was surprised Krad had any practical knowledge of urban Japanese life at all. It would make sense for him to need help to get by. Perhaps if he was honest with himself, Satoshi could even admit to being worried about the angel. But knowing that Krad had been throwing around some kid's credit card quenched any concern he'd felt with good old-fashioned spite. "Look, I'm sorry something happened to your credit card. If you want, I'll have the police look into it, but the best thing you could do is cancel the card and-"

"I'm not worried about the card! I'm worried about _**him**_,"__Jirou pleaded_._ He wouldn't just lose it. My mom said the charges came from a store in a really bad part of town. Something happened to him!"

Satoshi just rolled his eyes and turned toward his bedroom, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Where are you going?" Jirou asked.

"I'm calling the hospital so someone can come get you," the older boy said impatiently as he began closing the door behind him.

"Wait! He saved my life twice. I have to try to help him!"

Satoshi looked back at the boy sharply. The kid had to be making this stuff up, and he didn't find it funny.

Their argument had finally woken Riku, who raised her head up and noticed Jirou in confusion. "Satoshi, who is this?" she asked blankly.

"Some kid that Krad tricked," Satoshi explained flatly. "Keep an eye on him; I'm calling someone to pick him up." He closed the door firmly behind him and looked down at his phone. He flipped it open to dial and stared at the backlit screen. Questions that had lingered with him since yesterday nagged at the back of his mind. Why had Krad been holding up that wall when he found him in the schoolyard? He'd assumed the angel had wound up under the cave-in during the course of his fight with Dark and caught the falling building out of self-defense. But then, why continue to hold it up? And if he wanted to trap Satoshi inside, why even warn him to get out? Why not just drop the roof on his head when he'd had the chance? It had been a very, very long chance.

He gazed at the keypad on his phone. If it was true that Krad had been using the kid's card, he might be able to use this situation to track the angel down. And do what? With Dark busy playing hostage for Gorudo, he knew he didn't have the power to take Krad on by himself. Yet he felt a maddening urge to know where the white angel was and to confront him.

His fingers hovered over the number pad indecisively. He dialed the area code for the hospital, and then stopped again. Damn it, he needed more information. Rolling his eyes, he cleared his screen and thought it through again. He had to be crazy to even be thinking about this. But if he wanted to track Krad down, this could be the only clue he was going to get before the angel did something truly catastrophic. There was only one part of the city that counted as intrinsically 'dangerous,' and as deputy commander of the police force, he was fairly familiar with its businesses. There was only one cosmetics store that he knew of in that part of town.

Of course, it was a very vague lead. Obviously, Krad hadn't rung up the charges himself, unless he'd picked up some seriously strange hobbies, and whoever had gotten hold of the card might have never even met Krad in person. The card could have been picked up off the sidewalk. The boy gave a self-directed growl and pushed the phone back into his pocket.

Riku and Jirou both looked up at him searchingly as he came back out of the bedroom a few minutes later. "Did you call them?" Jirou asked in dread.

"No," Satoshi answered, ignoring the excited look the boy made in response. He looked at Riku. "I need to go out for a while. If this kid's telling the truth, Krad might still be in the city."

"I have a name," the boy piped in.

"And I didn't ask for it," Satoshi brushed him off impatiently. The boy crossed his arms and looked put out. Apparently, this person and the angel had some things in common. "Riku, can you wait here with him until I check this out? I might have more questions for him later."

"Where are you going? What are you supposed to do if you find him?" Riku asked him.

"I'm not sure, but it's not safe to let him run around the city, either."

His friend didn't look convinced. "He could seriously hurt you, Satoshi. Maybe we should wait for Dark to get back so that he can help," Riku urged.

"I'll go with him! Krad won't hurt him if I'm there!" Jiro said eagerly.

Satoshi pressed his fingers to his eyes, thinking more conclusively than ever that this kid was some kind of idiot. "You are not coming. You are staying right here," he said firmly before looking back at Riku. "I hear your point. I'll just make it a fact-finding mission, no confrontation. If things start to look dangerous, I'll back off until the others return." He noticed that his friend still didn't look pleased. "I'll have my phone with me the whole time," he added. "If anything develops here or with Daisuke, call me. If anything comes up about the boy, I'll smooth things out with the police later."

Riku looked skeptical, but she nodded her cooperation. "Just don't take too long," She said. "And really, Satoshi, please don't get in over your head. I don't know how I'll get Risa to forgive me if I let you do something stupid."

Satoshi frowned slightly as she brought up Risa. This wasn't the time to mention that his relationship with her sister was close to collapsing. Risa had only said they needed to talk, but he had felt the truth like a massive subtext in her voice. Honestly, though, he didn't think the news would surprise Riku. Maybe it didn't surprise any of them. After all, he had never been any good with relationships.

Before Riku could ask him to explain his strange expression, Satoshi turned toward the closet and pulled his police badge out of its place on the shelf, jamming it into his pocket. He threw on a long coat over the clothes he was wearing, wanting to look professional enough to have a serious conversation with whoever was working the shop when he got there. Though he suspected people in that part of town would probably recognize him, it was still tough to play tough as chief of police when you looked like you should still be in college.

"I'll be back." He looked over at Jiro and Riku and gave them a brief wave, then scooped up his keys and left through the front door. Within moments, he was sitting in his car, a silver hybrid that had been decked out with a police radio and lights. He put the car in gear and backed out of his space, then made his way toward the southeast end of the city. He switched up the fan on the AC so that cool air blew against his face, trying to calm his nerves and clear his head. Imagining what would happen if he saw Krad again was more than he could handle right now. He needed to just not think about anything. He couldn't think about what would happen with Risa, or about how he couldn't seem to care either way, or about how his best friend was cooperating with an obsessive billionaire who had kidnapped him by force, or even about the fact that he was about to flash his police badge right in the middle of the red lights district. For the moment, all he had to do was drive.

**--o0oOo0o--**

He couldn't stay here any longer.

Krad stood still as stone, looking up at the bonds on his hands. They were each locked in a thick steel cuff, and the two cuffs hung together from a single chain anchored to the wall above his head. The position gave him almost no flexibility in his bruised wrists and left his bare torso exposed and unguarded. It was a position of weakness, of submission. This was not a position he could endure. Logic told him to remain calm, to bide his time, but his pride couldn't take it any longer. These humans were trying to humiliate him. He felt like he was going crazy, like something vast and important was missing and no amount of anger could possibly fix it. It wasn't like him to think such things, and he knew it had to be the result of this ridiculous entrapment. This was not worth even his safety, not at this price. Anything was better than remaining in these people's bizarre reality.

He twisted his left hand around the chain that suspended his hands and held the other tightly around it, reinforcing his grip. The angel took a deep breath and focused. This wouldn't be fun, but it would be worth it. Closing his eyes, he summoned energy from deep inside his soul. The demands of the spell he was forming tugged at his insides, seeking power that was growing increasingly difficult to channel through his tired nerves. Krad just gritted his teeth and proceeded with the spell. A deep blue glow began to form inside his clenched hand. It grew brighter and brighter, shining through his tight grip until it cast a fierce blue shadow across the entire room. The angel kept himself carefully focused as the incredible amount of carefully gathered energy throbbed to escape his tightly closed fingers.

His eyes flashed open, gold irises shining hot white with power. It was ready. A dark smile spread across his lips. They would come to regret keeping him here, very soon. The angel squeezed tighter, cupping the ball of energy fiercely against the chains, and then let the spell go.

A fierce squeal of twisting metal resounded loudly throughout the basement as the tightly contained explosion blasted apart the chains in Krad's hand. The angel tugged his newly freed arms immediately downward and cradled his smoking hand to his chest with a thick gasp. His right hand had barely been grazed by the spell, but the left hand that had literally held onto the explosion was ripped through with ragged gashes. Krad clutched the bleeding palm tightly to his bare chest as the circulation began throbbing back into his arms. He stretched the shoulder muscles of his good arm stiffly, and he could almost have taken pleasure in the sweet pain of moving his arms. He was free. He felt adrenaline clear his head as he walked to the middle of the room and threw his wings wide in a victorious stretch.

Already, footsteps sounded on the stairs. Krad grinned darkly as the descending figure came into view. It was Ryuusuke.

Spotting the free angel, Midnight's lover stopped short and stared at Krad with surprise and real fear in his eyes. It was one thing to be near Krad when he was tied down, but quite another to have the angel smirking at you evilly at full height and wingspan a few feet away. The silver-haired man's hand shot to the comm unit at his waist and pressed a button. "Get down here, he's done something," he said tensely, presumably into some microphone attached to the device. He tried to take a step back and nearly fell to his ass on the stairs. More footsteps could already be heard pounding across the floor overhead.

Krad wasn't going to wait around for reinforcements. He cast a wicked smile at Ryuusuke and strode toward him fearlessly, climbing the stairs up to where he stood.

Ryuusuke clearly wanted to run, but either fear or loyalty to Midnight rendered him plastered to his spot as the liberated angel approached him. As a last resort, when Krad got too close, the man pulled back his fist and threw an untrained punch at the strange being's chest.

Krad reached up and caught the punch easily, crushing Ryuusuke's fist in his grip. The man's knuckles made a satisfying crunch at the pressure. Ryuusuke let out an alarmed curse and looked down at his hand in shock as he noticed blood oozing from between Krad's fingers. That didn't make sense to the man. The angel's grip hurt, but it wasn't _that_ strong, not enough to make him bleed. A look of horror spilled over his face.

"My god, what did you do to your hand? Are you insane?" Ryuusuke's breathless voice demanded. He seemed unable to take his eyes from the blood that was dripping down onto the ground between them.

"Shall I do yours next?" Krad offered coldly, power sparking to life between his fingers. This gained a wonderful reaction from the terrified Ryuusuke, but unfortunately, reinforcements appeared at the top of the stairs before he could pulverize the fool's hand. Three men appeared at the top of the stairs and stared down at Krad warily. They were big guys, and they didn't look scared, per se, but they did seem the worse for wear. One was sporting a strip of gauze across the bridge of his nose, the other had two very clear black eyes, and the third had his wrist in an ACE bandage.

Krad grinned as he realized the cause of the resentment in their expressions. Midnight had mentioned he'd given her men some trouble, but this was priceless. "So you're the lackeys I wiped the floor with while I was drugged into oblivion? Enjoy your trip to the hospital?" he snickered at them. Losing interest in Ryuusuke, he tugged the man past him, throwing him down the remaining stairs. "I've been having a _ball _down here."

His feral smile provoked the obviously annoyed men into running down the stairs toward him. The angel went into the first body that approached him with his good fist, cutting a sharp hook across the man's jaw and throwing him down the stairs behind him. A pained groan told him he had dealt a decent amount of damage, and Krad reveled in the sound. No sooner was he rid of the one man than two more were there in front of him. Before he could maneuver, a large foot kicked him squarely in the chest and sent him flying backward, falling over Ryuusuke and the man he'd just punched to land on the carpeted floor.

Krad felt his head reel dizzily. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he'd had entirely too little food and rest to deal with a fight of this scale. He could have sworn his mind only blurred for a second, but when he snapped back to reality, hands were all over him, holding him down, pressing him to the floor. He counted the three men surrounding him, and then saw Midnight step up behind the one who was holding his feet.

"Oh, Krad. You've been a very bad boy," she said coldly, yet she also seemed bizarrely amused. Her deep brown eyes met his smoldering gold orbs in a challenging deadlock. "I was going to give you time to compose yourself, but since you obviously can't play nicely with others, I think we should spend some time together right now. Get him on the table."

Krad rolled his eyes, irate at being restrained again. "You're wasting your time," he scoffed, testing his strength against the hands that were heaving him up by his arms and legs. The men staggered as a group to keep their balance, but they were strong. Seriously strong. And he was willing to bet that _they'd_ eaten something in the last 24 hours. Beyond kicking one in the nose, Krad's struggles were unsuccessful as he found himself being dropped on the huge wooden table that was sitting next to the stairs. It was the same table where Midnight had nearly had her way with Ryuusuke in front of him earlier that day. He felt strong hands locking around his wrists and ankles, and his limbs were tugged spread-eagle to the corners of the table.

"Ryuusuke, bandages and anesthetic," Midnight commanded. "The rest of you hold him steady."

The men looked uncertain about any further interaction with the strange being, but she gave them a look and they held him fast while Ryuusuke went up the stairs for the items described. A minute later, he returned with a metal case in hand. Krad twisted his head to watch the man coldly as he prepared a syringe. Ryuusuke took a very light grip on the angel's wounded hand and then injected a clear liquid into the meaty part of Krad's palm.

Krad held very still as the numbing liquid spread through his shredded hand. The blazing pain soon became only a dull ache while Ryuusuke wound a bandage tightly but sloppily from his wrist down to stave off the bleeding. For Krad, it was like watching someone else's hand. Everything below his forearm seemed to grow more and more detached, and it was hard to believe the blood spotting through the amateur bandage was his. It was hard to believe any of this was really happening to him. The relief in his hand was deceptively comforting, but he knew he wasn't safe on this table. Not even close. He turned his gaze back to Midnight with a wary glare.

"Keep giving me that look. I can't get enough of it," Midnight smiled, running a hand along his numb arm and then slowly drifting her fingers down his bare chest. She touched his skin there and followed the trail of fine blond hairs from his naval down to his pants. Eyes like candle flames followed her movements, observing her angrily.

"Yes, just like that. Notice nothing but me," Midnight crooned, enjoying the angel's undivided attention. She didn't seem to mind at all that her goons were there as an audience.

"I'm going to vomit on your furniture," Krad warned with a dark look.

"Or maybe, just maybe, you're going to have the time of your life," she smirked. "Krad, you always seem to love being angry. Why not loosen up a little?"

Krad grinned sourly at the suggestion. "Certainly not for you."

"Then whoever for? Look around you, darling. I'm all you've got," she smirked.

Krad frowned at her. She had a point. No one was going to find him here. He was on his own, and he didn't have a whole lot of options on this table. A tendril of longing snared in his chest, bringing with it again that sense of emptiness he'd broken himself loose to avoid. He brusquely disregarded the feeling before he could think too hard about what it meant. "I'm sure this is _very_ complicated for you to grasp, but I'm not interested," he sneered.

"We'll see about that," she smiled craftily, climbing onto the table with him. Without the slightest regard for her audience or her displeased captive, she straddled his waist and ran both hands in a gliding, exploratory caress along his stomach and ribs.

"Get off," Krad ordered, his pulse drumming madly inside his chest. He couldn't stand her or the touch of her skin. Even when he considered, for just a split second, what would happen if he were to just cooperate with her intentions for the sake of convenience, he couldn't seem to fathom being attracted to her. Not that he had much experience in that arena…

"You don't give orders to me, love. It works the other way around," she purred, pressing her weight down between his legs as her mouth traced the contours of his collarbone.

Krad's body gave a furious jerk at her touch, his eyes wide with anger. Two men lost their footing and had to stumble to regain control of his limbs. "You will die for this foolish insult," he snarled. It was no act; he meant every word. Despite the strength of his thrashing, exhaustion showed at the corners of his eyes.

"Midnight, he's dehydrated. I don't think he's capable of responding to you right now," Ryuusuke said quietly.

Both Midnight and Krad turned to stare at him. A devious smirk slowly grew on Midnight's face. "I'm not letting him off the hook this time, Ryuusuke. If he's going to stay here, he needs to learn his place. If you're so concerned for him, I suggest you help. In fact, I think I'll make that an order," she smirked.

Ryuusuke paled and looked down at Krad's hateful expression. "I'm not a dom," he said uncomfortably, seeming more distraught by his assigned role than by the idea of the angel as a partner. Conversely, the angel thought he might prefer to lie down under construction equipment.

"How ironic, then, that I'm ordering you to be one," Midnight smiled. She looked down at Krad. "I have a little theory, my stubborn angel, that Ryuusuke is more in line with your preferences than I am. I wouldn't dream of swimming against your current, so to speak, so let's let him have a try, shall we?"

"He's of no more interest to me than you are," Krad said in exasperation.

She seemed to think otherwise. "Let's give it the old college try," she grinned, crossing her arms. "Ryuusuke," she smiled at her reluctant pet, "If you refuse, you will be punished. If you fail, he'll be punished," she gestured to the restrained angel. "So I suggest you put on your best show."

To the angel's flat-out disbelief, Ryuusuke seemed persuaded by this threat. "You have to be kidding," Krad muttered at the silver-haired man as he took a step closer. "You think tying me up, trying to starve me to death, and then crawling around on me will somehow _raise _my interest in you two?" he hissed. His eyes betrayed wary shock as Midnight slid off him and Ryuusuke came up next to the table. The man looked uncertain of the safety of this experiment, but he climbed up to kneel on the table just next to Krad's waist. Unlike Midnight, he didn't dare try to straddle the angel or pin him down, but there was undeniable curiosity, maybe even interest, in his expression.

The two men stared at each other, furious gold against cautious gray. No matter how you looked at it, the roles were backwards between them, not to mention the two were on blatantly different levels physically. Despite Ryuusuke's moderately good looks, in his position above the nearly luminous beauty of the angel, he gave the impression of a common buffoon attempting to dance with a god. Ryuusuke reached out a cautious hand and touched Krad's chest very lightly, testing. The angel struggled back as if to descend into the table to get away from him. It was somehow worse with this man than it had been with Midnight, more threatening, despite Ryuusuke's meek disposition. Maybe there was some truth to Midnight's theories, because the prospect of taking this man as a lover struck a much more real chord of alarm in the angel than Midnight had. Krad recalled how uncomfortable Ryuusuke had been with an audience of one earlier that day, so he thought the man couldn't possibly intend to flirt with him in front of four other people. Hopefully, he would simply give up.

Instead, Ryuusuke leaned forward until his chest brushed against Krad's. He moved slowly, like he was trying not to spook him. The angel narrowed his eyes in frustration as warm lips pressed just below his collarbone. The sensation began as a testing contact, but then the man's mouth widened and a hot tongue ran up along the length of Krad's neck. The angel tensed, his pulse racing in the artery under Ryuusuke's lips. He twisted his head downward and bit onto one of the silver loops that pierced through the man's ear. With a fierce jerk, he ripped his head to the side and tore the metal through the man's skin.

Ryuusuke gasped in pain and pulled back out of reach of the angel. He put a hand over his ear and stared at Krad with the strangest expression the angel had ever seen. Rather than anger, the man's face revealed something closer to respect or even excitement.

The angel had to swallow back his nausea. The deranged twit was actually getting off on what Krad had just done. Krad spit the earring out on the table and glared at him in disbelief.

"Don't fight me," Ryuusuke whispered. "I can make this easier for you, but you have to relax."

"You're out of your mind, you sick pervert," Krad snapped, breathless with anger.

Ryuusuke paused and looked down at his horrified partner. Everything about the angel told him that this wasn't going to become pleasurable for the winged man. He wasn't even human; maybe he really couldn't deal with these things. "Midnight, he's in no condition--"

"Try his wings," Midnight ordered, crossing her arms. She was enjoying the show quite a bit and had no intention of letting it end here. "You're a very skillful man, Ryuusuke. Don't get shy on me now."

Krad's eyes narrowed hatefully at the man. "Don't you dare," he threatened, his livid face pale as a ghost.

Ryuusuke looked at the other man warily. "Think of someone else, if you have to," he whispered and reached out a hand to weave his fingers through the incredibly soft feathers at the base of his wing. He was surprised to hear the angel's breath hitch. When he looked back at Krad's face, though, all he saw was a startled glare. He tried again, running his fingers through the underside of Krad's wing in a slow, luxurious movement.

"Stop," Krad snarled, panic plain now in his voice. He was breathing too fast. He'd never felt any of this before, and he was beyond spooked. His whole body was telling him now exactly what Ryuusuke had said before: that if he just relaxed, it might be easier. Maybe it would even feel good. But far from relaxing, the angel was close to hyperventilating. He couldn't stand being held down by these people. His pride just couldn't endure it. He hated them for trapping him, for daring to touch him. And he hated himself at the moment too, because he knew he was blushing.

"Well imagine that, you've got a soft spot after all," Midnight teased. "Ryuusuke, use more pressure. You're just teasing him," she ordered as she watched Krad's reactions in fascination. The angel was proving to be far more complicated physically than she could have imagined, but she was convinced she would have him, if she could just push him a little further.

"Get off me!" Krad hissed venomously, but Ryuusuke seemed more concerned with Midnight's orders than his. Not a phenomenal surprise. After all, there weren't three grown men holding _her_ down. The silver-haired man rubbed his fingers in a firm, solid caress along his wing. Krad sucked in a ragged gasp and struggled against the hands that were holding him down. "Stop," he breathed.

Ryuusuke didn't stop. The angel bit back a startled cry as the man's fingers pressed further in between his feathers, causing something deep in him to throb. Far from calming him, the new feeling only seemed to heighten Krad's adrenaline, throwing him into panic. Despite himself, he felt his nerves beginning to go taut, to stretch out and reach for more.

And that was the final straw, the final surge of panic and indignation that finally pushed the angel over the line. He would not feel these things under this man's touch. He wouldn't feel them with anyone.

The angel's eyes burst to life, swimming with molten gold. He'd had more than his taste of this game, and his mind and body were both out of tolerance. Something monstrous and unrelenting swelled up within him, bringing with it an overflowing power that activated every nerve he had. Then, like a sheet of ice trod too heavily, he simply snapped. The angel glowered at Ryuusuke and braced himself as magic rushed in from every reserve he had, ready or not, like an ultimate defensive mechanism. His eyes brimmed with a fierce, confident power, and he looked up at his captors sadistically.

Midnight seemed to register what was happening, too late. There was no time to interrupt. This was more than a spell; it was a reflex, sharp and swift, and nothing could stop him fast enough. Not this time.

The air in the room thickened and hovered for a split second before a rib-cracking wall of power exploded from Krad in all directions. Ryuusuke took a direct hit that sent him hurling across the room. Midnight was thrown sharply against the wall, her head thudding hard into the cement, while the rest of the men flew unceremoniously backward onto the floor.

Krad stared at the ceiling, breathing heavily. The spell left his whole body tingling, and he wasn't sure what that meant yet. He threw himself up into a crouch on the tabletop to survey his groaning victims, who were reeling on the ground. He was running on adrenaline now, and it seemed to him that their groaning wasn't good enough. He wanted them all dead. He didn't care how much power it took. He set his eyes on Midnight and pulled a feather out to anchor his next spell.

The magic came to him obediently, almost too easily. He knew something wasn't right, but his confusion seemed lost in the storm of his anger. He shot a beam of white flame into Midnight just as she was beginning to crawl back up from his first strike. Her body slammed back into the wall as if she'd been slugged with a log. The sound of her pained yelp brought a satisfied smirk to Krad's lips, but he knew it wasn't enough to kill her. He wanted to blast her again and again, until she lay sputtering up her own blood on the floor. The angel leapt off the table to stand unhindered in front of his would-be captor. He slammed his heel down onto her chest, pinning her to the floor, and drew his good arm back to cast another attack.

None came. Krad stood there, poised to strike, but his eyes had suddenly lost their focus. His insides gave a sickening lurch as his body finally realized the full cost of the powerful spells he'd just cast. Trying his best not to appear weakened, Krad staggered backward until he slammed into the table. He sank back onto his elbows against its heavy surface. His legs lost their strength, and then his arms followed suit. He sucked in an unsteady breath and dropped down to the floor. It felt like his insides were trying to rip themselves apart.

He was so close….so close to revenge and freedom, but he couldn't move. He couldn't even make himself breathe. He could only collapse onto his side and ride the spasms of recoil as his empty body realized it had no strength left to replace what it had just used. He tried hard to focus on the recovering bodies that were getting to their feet around him, while his heart thundered in his ears. They were shouting - at him, at each other. Bits and pieces of their conversation bled into his ears as they approached him, yet he felt oddly indifferent about whatever they were yelling, like it was something that should matter to someone else, not to him. He didn't care about any of it.

The only thing his shellshocked mind could seem to think of at that moment was Satoshi. Satoshi lying paralyzed exactly like this, wondering when this feeling was supposed to stop. Wondering if it would kill him.

**--o0o0O0o0o--**

The young police commander tried not to attract attention as he got out of the car and stepped onto the broken curb. The shops on this street sported expensive merchandise and neon signs, but their flare and glare couldn't change the sorry condition of the neighborhood that housed them. In the middle of the day, the street seemed almost normal, cluttered with cars and pedestrians, but at night, this was the place to be for everyone who had no place good to go.

Satoshi took a deep breath and walked into the cosmetics shop that was next to his car. The inside of the store was brightly lit and colorful, filled with aisles and aisles of mirrors and creams and powders. Not his kind of place, and he knew it wasn't Krad's kind either. Still, as he approached the man at the register, the first question out of his mouth was "I'm looking for a tall man with long blonde hair and gold eyes. Have you seen him here?"

The shopkeeper, who appeared to be in his mid forties and had a carefully trimmed goatee, eyed the young man suspiciously. "Who's asking?" he demanded.

"I'm the Deputy Chief of Police," Satoshi said flatly, pulling out his badge and flipping it open for the man to see. "We're investigating this man. Any information you could provide would be useful."

"Let me guess," the teller asked, leaning across the counter. "He's got a huge pair of white wings and shoots laser beams out his hands."

Satoshi narrowed his eyes at him. "Yes," he said warily.

"Haven't seen him."

The blue-haired boy frowned. "Is that some kind of joke? You just described him perfectly."

"Sure I did. I watch YouTube, just like everyone else," the man snorted.

"YouTube?" Satoshi asked, growing pale.

"I know you cops don't think much of this part of town, but that doesn't mean every weirdo who goes viral on the web necessarily has to be here," he snorted.

Satoshi forced himself not to look mortified. _Viral?_ "Sorry…that was a joke," he managed to say. "I'm really here to ask you about a large purchase that was made here last night. Several hundred dollars' worth. Do you remember the customer?"

"Sure I remember," the man sad sourly, "but I've got my customers' privacy to consider." His look spelled out distrust in capital letters.

"The purchase was made with a stolen credit card," Satoshi pressed.

This seemed to hit a sore spot with the shopkeeper, who grew suddenly vocal. "Now that's a lie if I ever heard one. She's a good girl, that one, a hard worker. Said she got a client who was a big spender and offered her the card as a blank check. I told her she should only have accepted cash, but she insisted he was good for it. If the pervert reported it missing, it was a damned lie. Damn rich folks are always coming through these parts and then giving these poor girls the runaround. They've got it hard enough as it is without getting conned by those bastards."

Satoshi let this sink in. "You're saying this customer is a prostitute?" he asked numbly. Krad couldn't…he wouldn't possibly have actually… "Please, I need to know where to find her."

"Couldn't tell you if I wanted to," the man said coldly.

"Why not?" Satoshi demanded.

"Cause I don't like you, kid. Besides, Midnight took her off the radar for a few weeks for her own protection. Seems a client of hers caused some trouble, and she's not the most popular chick on the block at the moment."

"She works for Midnight, then?" Satoshi followed up. He'd been through enough files at the station to know exactly who Midnight was. He was fortunate that the man didn't seem especially good at keeping information under his hat.

"Midnight won't talk with you," he warned coldly, though Satoshi hadn't even suggested the idea yet. "She protects her own. Besides, word is she's got a new toy to play with."

"A new toy?"

The man snickered at him as if he knew some devious secret. "Midnight protects her own, and that's all you're hearing from me," he smirked, "Poor bastard'll learn his lesson."

Satoshi was about to demand to know what that was supposed to mean, but a strange spasm in his left hand made him wince. He drew the hand in against him and glanced down at it, unable to see any reason why it should suddenly have this dull, phantom ache. Maybe he'd slept on it wrong?

"Having trouble there, Commander?" the clerk asked him impatiently. His tone warned the younger man that it was time to get off the guy's property before he 'accidentally' pulled a knife or something.

"You've been very helpful," Satoshi said, jamming the hand into his pocket and giving the man a cursory nod before booking it out of the store. It wasn't until he was back in his car with the doors locked that he pulled his offending hand out again and stared at it. He inspected it back and front, and couldn't see any sign of a bruise or scrape. The sensation almost felt like it was on his skin, but obviously that wasn't the case. He ignored it and started the car as he thought about what the man had said. His mind pulled up every detail he could remember from Midnight's file. What did he mean, "poor bastard'll learn his lesson"? Something about the way he'd said "new toy" raised Satoshi's hairs for some reason. There were rumors, although none were confirmed, that Midnight had a taste for the sadistic with her partners. That she enjoyed 'taming' people.

The completely unlikely prospect that Krad was the troublemaking client Midnight was now supposedly 'playing' with inevitably found its way into Satoshi's head. He couldn't even picture Krad in such a situation. There was no way a human could get away with that kind of game against the angel, anyway. He'd probably just fight tooth and nail until one of them got killed. Not to mention the fact that he was too strong to get trapped like that. Although he had seemed to be in pretty bad shape when Satoshi encountered him at the school. He recalled how easily the angel had staggered off balance against his unpracticed punch. If Krad had come to this part of town in that condition…

The idea sent a pang of anxiety through him, and instantly, the ache in his hand grew stronger. Satoshi gritted his teeth and turned the AC on full, letting the cold breeze rush through his hair. What was he getting so worked up about? This was the part where he'd promised Riku he'd leave it alone and come home. Midnight was high up on the police force's "do not mess with" list, and calling in police reinforcements would mean explaining what he was investigating. A casual knock on the door would be a hazardous venture, even without throwing the possibility of encountering Krad into the mix.

After a few minutes of restless pondering, the strange pain in his hand melted away. In fact, it almost felt numb. He really must have slept on it wrong. And he had to get back to Riku. Not to mention the fact that he apparently had to deal with Krad being leaked onto YouTube. Satoshi put the car into gear and pulled out of his parking space, heading back the way he'd come, toward home. His nerves seemed to stand on end as he drove slowly. Krad couldn't possibly be with Midnight. He had to stop thinking about it. But with each block he put between himself and the red light district, a nagging feeling in his chest grew worse.

He was pulling away from a stoplight when an all-too-familiar spasm of empty shock rode through his whole body. Satoshi slammed on his brakes, gripping his chest in stunned confusion. The angry honking of the driver who'd almost crashed into him from behind went unnoticed as the young man sat there, stock still, in the middle of the road.

He took a deep breath and tried to understand how this could be happening. This was the most specific and cruel sensation he'd ever known in his life. There was no mistaking exactly what it was, except for the fact that it wasn't possible anymore. This body was only his, now. He possessed no magic of his own.

"How?" he breathed tensely, even though he knew there was no one else in his head. It took him a few horrified moments to realize that as horrifyingly familiar as the feeling was, his physical body wasn't reacting to it. He wasn't truly experiencing the exhaustion or the miserable paralysis, yet he was somehow conscious of it in his mind, enough to make him cringe. It was as if he were watching himself experience it, not literally feeling it. Like the suffering belonged to someone else. If this wasn't his nightmare, whose was it?

An idea so impossible that he could barely consider it began drafting itself in his mind. Krad…Krad was in trouble. And somehow, their link was reactivating. He was in _serious_ trouble.

It couldn't possibly be true, yet he had to admit it would explain what was happening. What if Dark hadn't been the only one to retain a connection with his wing host? After all, why should it only be him? Satoshi stared intensely at the straight road ahead of him. The impatient cars behind him were beginning to pull around and drive on, casting him baffled stares as they went. He had the option of joining them, pretending that nothing had happened. He could protect the so-called normal life he had spent the last two years painstakingly whittling into existence. Slowly, he took his foot off the break and touched the gas, sliding forward into the stream of traffic. The feeling grew worse, gnawing at his nerves. What was that jerk doing? He was going to get himself killed. '_And why stop him?' _a voice inside of him asked.

He'd gone about a hundred feet when his blue eyes clouded with frustration. "Damn it," he muttered. He checked for traffic and threw an illegal U turn in the middle of the road, gunning it for the area he'd just left. He just barely ran every red on the way back into the red lights district, where he turned down a side street and drove until he came to a well-kept mansion. The green painted building was neatly incorporated into the run-down squalor of the buildings on either side of it. It was two stories tall and sported a small U-shaped drive with a Lexus parked in it – a very classy flat for the city, let alone this part of the city.

Satoshi parked at the end of the block and went out to his trunk to scrounge up whatever gear he had to work with. He hoped to avoid a conflict, but going in unarmed was out of the question. This was such a bad idea. Five minutes later, he was as ready as he would ever be and walking up the driveway. If Midnight's goons wanted to shoot him right there, he knew perfectly well that they could. Very little attention was paid to a murder or two in this part of town; the standard policy was to look the other way and carry on.

The front door had an old fashioned cast-iron knocker embossed with an image of two nude female angels joining hands. Great, she was into angels. Prying away this woman's 'new toy' was looking more and more like a very, very stupid idea, if in fact Krad was even here.

And if he was, why take custody of him at all? In the unlikely case that some human had managed to chain down and restrain his former counterpart, couldn't Satoshi just leave it to her to keep the angel under control? The paralyzing energy drain he could still feel in the back of his mind was a grim reminder of what taming Krad had been like. Maybe this was the best thing that could have happened. If so, why did it feel like there was a block of iron in his stomach? Still wondering what the hell he was thinking, the blue-haired man set his jaw and gave the knocker three sharp, firm slams.

**--oOoOo--**

**To be continued! (Krad fans may now beat me with blunt objects) **

Shout outs!

(To everyone: Reading your reviews makes me so happy! It is what helps me go on writing each chapter, and I am so flattered and lucky to be surrounded with such supportive and insightful fellow fans to help me keep this story well rounded and do the characters as much justice as possible. _**Thank you**_ for your feedback!)

Fireflower19: I hope that sates the Krad cravings for now! If not, the next chapter is going to be almost exclusively Krad and Satoshi =P. Thank you for going out of your way to be my personal angel this month. Your kindness and enthusiasm really touched me and made me want to write! Really. –hugs--

Dark Hearted Shinobi: You are wonderful! Thank you for your kind review and for reading!

NasiraWolf: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! If Midnight doesn't get herself killed messing with Krad, you are welcome to her : )

Stormshadow13: Feel free to strangle the Daisuke for me : ) I made him a real turd lately. I want to say something about Gorudo and the Black Wings, but I'm afraid of wrecking surprises, so I'm just going to keep it under my hat for now ; ) (So bad at keeping secrets!!) I will say that Krad will be kicking some butts very soon!

BrokenBeyondRepair: Thank you so much for reviewing! Now that the holidays are over, hopefully things will slow down at work and I'll be able to write more often : )

TheEvilMuffinToaster: Your review made me giggle like a crazy lady. But you're right, of course, Krad would never submit! He may, however, encounter the all powerful veterinarian in a future chapter. Only time will tell the outcome of that epic battle. Thank you so much for reading and for your feedback!

Animeannie: Well, you asked what tortures I had planned…. He didn't _technically _chew his wrists, though, right? I have been really hard on Krad (and Dark, for that matter) the last few chapters, but the mood is about to turn up! Thank you for reviewing!

Herbblood: Thanks for reviewing!! I think you're right that Daisuke is due for some character development in this story. There will be more of him over the next several chapters, and I think those scenes will change his role in the story toward something more positive.

-fan: Whoah, awesome! I'm so flattered that you are enjoying it. I once watched a few of the initial episodes of -man to see what it was, and I think it must take a while to get started, because it didn't fully capture my interest in those first few episodes. However, given its length, it obviously develops into something more intense afterwards. I probably didn't give it enough time to get started. That happened for me with Saiyuki also, and when I pressed on a few more episodes, I became hooked for 4 season of madness. So I guess I don't know enough about D. Gray-man to write a fic, but I'm really flattered you asked about it, and someday when I have more time, I want to go back and try the show again.


	25. Crash and Burn Part 1

**Part 25: Crash and Burn – Part 1**

**--oOoOo--**

"Put him against the corner and keep your guns on him," Midnight ordered as she managed to regain her balance.

"Put him in the corner? You should shoot that crazy freak," growled one of the men as he staggered back to his feet. "Hell, I'd do it for ya."

"Just secure him!" shouted another. "Before he pulls another…whatever that was!"

"I think something's wrong with him," Ryuusuke observed stiffly without moving from his place on the floor.

"Yeah, he's having some sort of attack or something."

Midnight assessed the blond angel who was lying coiled in pain on her basement floor. She'd nearly succeeded in taming this being, until he'd lashed out more viciously than any of them believed him capable of. The woman's chest still blistered with pain from the hectic energy her new 'pet' had just pummeled her with. She had no way to explain what he'd just done, any more than she could explain what the heck he was. The only thing she was sure of at the moment was that whatever had just happened, the angel was paying dearly for it now.

"He won't be able to do anything in that condition," she said.

"That's what you told us last time, and he obviously had some punches left. That psychopath is dangerous; you should get rid of him now before one of us gets killed."

"Oh please," Midnight growled. "Don't be a pack of sissies, he's obviously not going anywhere. Someone get his other arm before I smack you worse than he did." Despite her words, the woman seemed a little cautious as she reached out and grabbed Krad's bad arm. The angel's muscles moved stiffly as she tugged on him, but he didn't seem to have any particular reaction to her. No anger, no struggling. His expression looked pale and haunted. Apparently, he'd done quite a number on himself. It served him right after the stunt he'd just pulled.

Seeing the angel so unresponsive seemed to give the men more confidence, and they helped her drag Krad somewhat roughly to the corner of the room, where they dropped him with his back to the wall. The angel didn't bother to strike at any of them. He closed his eyes tightly against the room around him, every muscle feeling like it had been run through a garlic press.

"I don't think he's breathing," one of the men noted blandly.

"He'll figure it out. Get your guns out," Midnight barked. As they shuffled behind her with weapons drawn to provide backup, she crouched next to the angel. "Krad," she called to him. When he didn't respond, she shouted "Krad!"

His lids raised and unfocused gold eyes flicked to her, but there was no energy in them. He sucked a slow, thick breath like he'd completely forgotten to draw air for the last minute and a half. The effort seemed to exhaust him, but he appeared to be more conscious of his surroundings now.

A loud knock came from the door upstairs, and two of the men turned to look. "Expecting someone?" one asked Midnight.

"Someone go see what it is," she barked without taking her eyes off Krad. "Don't think I'm through with you. I should shoot you in the knee and watch you bleed to death," she warned him angrily.

"My heart…grows cold," he said in a shaky whisper, sitting up stiffly against the wall. He looked at her thoughtfully, bizarrely still.

"Or maybe I'll leave you right here and take my more civilized pets on a nice cruise somewhere for a week or so. We can watch you starve to death on webcam."

"That would be quieter," he acknowledged, leaning his throbbing head back against the cement. It seemed like too much effort to have to hold his neck up.

Midnight didn't seem to know what to make of Krad's dull indifference. When a person seemed calm about the prospect of being tortured and killed, well, there was very little left you could do to threaten him. "Count your breaths, love. I'm not half as forgiving as you seem to think, and you've been quite a disappointment," she warned as the man who had run upstairs came back down.

"Midnight, there's a cop at the door."

"A what?" she demanded incredulously. "What does he want?"

"You're not going to believe this…he's here for the freak. Apparently he's wanted for murder."

Midnight let out a dark laugh, cold and unpleasant. "Tell him I'll see to it he's taken care of."

"Midnight...," her man argued cautiously, "do we really want to deal with it if he comes back with a warrant?"

"They wouldn't dare. Who the hell is up there, anyway? Some stupid greenhorn?"

"Badge says he's the Deputy Commander. Looks like a teenager, though. Maybe it's some kind of prank."

Krad's eyes flashed to the man warily. The lackey noticed the angel's attention on him and took a subtle step back.

Midnight smacked her hand to her forehead. "No, it's possible that's really him. But if he's here without backup, it might be a poser." She looked at her captive thoughtfully. She'd never met the young 'Deputy Commander', but she'd heard of him. What was he thinking messing around in her neighborhood? "Why not. Let's let him have my delightful little pet," she said, a cold smile growing on her face. "I'm out of patience for him anyway, and a police scandal would be bad for business."

The men looked relieved by this idea. "We'll get him upstairs."

Krad looked tense again as the men approached to haul him to his feet. His limbs felt like loose scrap with no screws or bolts to keep them together. He tried to focus on making his legs move as the men half-dragged him across the room and up the stairs. He made his best effort not to think about what they'd just said. It couldn't possibly be _him_. This was some kind of joke. He felt sick enough to puke, his body screaming at him not to be moved. He gritted his teeth as he reached the top of the stairs and they let go of his arms. A hand pressed into his back, shoving him forward.

The angel staggered across level ground and barely managed to catch his balance, standing haphazardly under his own weight. He stretched his wings out guardedly and stared at the floor below him, which was swerving dangerously in his vision.

"If there's an investigation involved later, I'm not interested in any interviews. This is all the cooperation you'll get. Are we clear?" Midnight's voice said from behind his left shoulder.

"I'll keep that in mind," an all too familiar voice spoke from just in front of him.

The floor spun again. Krad slowly raised his eyes anyway to look at the figure that was standing before him, silhouetted by the light of a long hallway that led to the front door of the house. Blue eyes were watching him from just a few feet away, with an expression the angel couldn't read. _Why?_

Satoshi stared at the angel's stunned expression. The blonde looked ready to collapse. His hair hung loose and unkempt around his shoulders and waist. Krad's shirtless chest was smeared with blood, which Satoshi assumed was related to the saturated bandage on his right hand. The young commander had to force himself to remember that Midnight and her men were watching him. "What happened to him?" he asked impersonally.

"Now Commander, I don't know what they write about me down at the station, but I don't like to kiss and tell," Midnight smiled. She watched his expression closely, but Satoshi didn't seem to care about what she'd implied.

"I can't help but notice that you don't seem surprised about his…_appearance_," she pried suspiciously.

Satoshi glanced over the angel's huge white wings. "It was in the report," he said flatly.

"Well then, I suppose he's all yours," she smirked.

"We appreciate your cooperation," Satoshi said, pulling off his coat and holding it out to Krad. The angel glowered at it and then cast him a dubious stare. It was the first real reaction he'd noticed from the blonde. "I'm not turning this into a street show. Wear the coat…freak," the young man ordered. He needed to get them the heck out of there.

Krad looked at him as if he had two heads. Satoshi kept his expression flat and gave the angel a look, noting the exhausted shadows around his eyes. Whatever the blonde was thinking at the moment, he apparently decided to go along with his former counterpart for now. He slowly reached out his good hand and took the long coat from Satoshi's hand. The fabric remained a careful barrier between their fingers.

Krad's wings folded unceremoniously along his back before he swung the coat over his shoulders and drew his arms through the sleeves. Satoshi felt his right palm buzz uncomfortably as the angel pulled the coat over his hand, signaling that whatever had numbed it before was wearing off. Unbelievable…they really were connected. What did that mean? The thought left him equal parts excited and horrified, which made no sense at all, but this definitely wasn't the time to deal with his conflicted reaction.

"Turn around," Satoshi said, pulling a pair of handcuffs from his belt. He wasn't about to walk around him and put himself between Krad and Midnight. The angel frowned, but he turned slowly so that his back faced the boy. That left him staring angrily at Midnight while Satoshi noticed how badly swollen both the angel's wrists were. He clipped a cuff onto Krad's "good" hand and then pulled the other arm back to join it. The only external evidence that he was hurting the angel was a slight curling of Krad's fingers. The blonde seemed to be as proud as ever, but it really didn't make much sense to hide it, under the circumstances. Maybe Krad didn't even know the connection between them was there?

"Turn and walk," Satoshi ordered, and was immensely relieved that the angel responded readily this time. Krad turned from Midnight with a hateful glare, and began what seemed like an interminable walk toward the door. Both men were very aware of Midnight and all of her lackeys following them with their eyes as they made their way to the exit. Satoshi knew better than to rush the angel, but he still put a hand against Krad's back to press the unsteady being out of the mansion as quickly as possible.

Krad managed his weight carefully as he followed the firm pressure of Satoshi's hand on his back. His legs were barely cooperating with him. He shortened his stride to hide the tremble in the point of his step. He stayed upright, mostly from sheer will. In the young man's presence, it seemed absolutely vital that he maintain his balance, that he not appear weak. As they made their way out, the angel saw more of the building than he'd been aware of during his stay there. It all passed by in a meaningless blur as his thoughts pounded in too many directions at once, but foremost in his mind was _outside, outside now._ He had the acute impression that at any moment, Midnight's men would be upon him, refastening the chains.

They moved past several expensively furnished rooms, and then there was a door before them. Satoshi's thin hand reached around him to turn the knob, and bright sunlight flooded onto the angel's face. He squinted into it, trying to remember if the sun had always been this achingly bright. Satoshi's hand pressed into his back again, sooner than he felt he was ready, and pushed him out onto a driveway that faced a busy street. The road was humming with activity, pedestrians and cars streaming by, Earth as usual.

Krad felt numb as he scanned the scene. His usual apprehension about being thrown into the throbbing pulse of human society didn't quite hit home as it usually did. At the same time, what he felt was not relief either. It was closer to what he'd experienced after Midnight's drugs. Empty.

Satoshi didn't say a word. He turned him left and began escorting him toward the sidewalk. Krad could see the unmarked police car parked at the end of the block. He stared at it with a flat expression as they approached it, watching it grow larger in his vision. The other pedestrians gave them a wide birth and cast him curious looks. He didn't look back. They were like flies around his face. His body ached, his muscles felt ready to collapse, and he couldn't seem to make up his mind about what he should do when he reached the corner.

They stopped. Satoshi reached around and opened the back door of the vehicle. Krad frowned at the reinforced back seat. A new cage. The indecision seemed to vaporize in the presence of the absolute knowledge that _he did not want to be in that car_.

"Get in," Satoshi instructed him quietly.

Krad pulled away from Satoshi's grip and glared at him over his shoulder. A ball of energy fizzled to life in his cuffed palm, flickering erratically like a spent fluorescent bulb. His complexion paled as he struggled to form a spell from what remained of his strength. A wince pulled at the lines of his mouth.

His breath came out in a surprised groan as Satoshi kicked the back of his knee. The spell fizzled in his hand and he collapsed forward against the side of the car, legs shaking as they re-caught his weight. He turned his head to spot the boy, ready to take a swing at him. Instead, he found Satoshi's face unexpectedly close to his, a look of flat impatience glazed into his blue eyes. "Don't use any more. You can't afford it," he said so seriously that the angel froze. "Get in the car, now. Your girlfriend's watching."

Krad shifted his eyes behind them. The boy was right. Midnight and several of her men were watching from the driveway. If he wasn't Satoshi's, he was theirs. Damned if he did, damned if he didn't. He closed his eyes, not meeting Satoshi's gaze as he sank into the back seat of the car.

The boy closed the door hard behind him and walked around to the driver's seat. Sitting down, Satoshi slid open the sight screen to the reinforced window that looked back on Krad's seat. Thin slits had been cut into the thick material to allow sound to pass through, but Satoshi said nothing. Within a few seconds, the ignition was started and they were driving out of the neighborhood.

Krad leaned into the hard seat, not caring that he was resting his weight on his bad hand. Satoshi put his gun away in the glove box and focused on putting as many blocks as possible between them and Midnight's territory. A drowning silence filled the car.

"When did you last eat or drink?" Satoshi asked.

The angel just frowned.

"If I feed you, will you kill me after your strength returns?" Satoshi asked sourly after several minutes.

There was a pause, as if the angel was seriously considering the question. "Probably," Krad answered, sounding neither angry nor pleased with himself.

The car lapsed back into silence. The air was so heavy with unspoken questions that it was a little hard to breathe.

"There's a place around the corner," The boy's voice came less harshly this time through the thick glass.

There was no answer. Satoshi checked the rearview mirror to see the angel looking out the window with a grim frown. Krad's gold eyes were glassy with exhaustion and something else that the boy couldn't identify. Satoshi had never seen the angel so dismal. He sighed and just drove, taking a right turn at the next light. They came up on the restaurant and pulled to a stop in a street space. He shut off the engine and went around to Krad's door, opening it. "Get out," he directed him.

Krad looked up at him with a guarded frown. He climbed to his feet and used his weight to push the door shut behind him. Satoshi walked up behind Krad as he stepped onto the sidewalk. Touching the angel as little as possible, he produced a key from his pocket and bent to release the handcuffs. The boy used the opportunity to take another good look at the angel's wounded hand.

"Do you need drugs?" he asked. His voice was like a stone wall; unreadable and cold.

"No," Krad said quietly, rolling his shoulders as his arms came free. He looked at his unchained hands expressionlessly.

"Follow me," Satoshi ordered, locking the car and making his way toward the restaurant.

Krad watched him for a moment, and then followed.

They walked through double glass doors into the establishment. It was a little too late for lunch, too early for dinner. Only a few people sat eating, and there was no line. Satoshi walked to the counter and waited for the cashier. When she arrived, she looked at them both strangely. A well-dressed young man with blue hair and a ragged-looking blonde wearing a trenchcoat and a bloody bandage. They made a conspicuous pair.

Satoshi pulled out his wallet and frowned at its contents. "Fries and 20 chicken nuggets," he said to her, his eyes telling her to can the questions. "Two drinks." He waited for her to say a number and handed her the only bill he had, not counting the change when she returned a few coins to his hand. In a few seconds, the food appeared on a plastic tray before them. Satoshi took the cups and moved to fill them. "Can you carry that," he said to Krad, gesturing toward the rest of the tray.

The angel frowned at the tray like it was a tombstone, but he picked it up, watching without comment as the boy walked to the soda fountain.

Satoshi studied the options. He moved to fill the cups with water, but then his thoughts turned to Hattori's treatment plan for when Dark was dehydrated. He filled his cup with water, and Krad's with Gatorade, and then led them to a table. They sat down in silence. Neither made a move to touch the food. "Aren't you going to eat?" Satoshi asked suspiciously. The angel seemed very still. "Did something happen?"

Krad blinked, not meeting his eyes. He looked down at the food with a conflicted stare. He finally took a French fry and put it in his mouth savorlessly.

"Krad…" Satoshi said, sounding really confused now. His voice dropped to something almost soothing. "The fries are for me. I got the meat for you."

The angel's mouth flattened into a hard line and he looked at the basket of chicken nuggets. Here he was, nearly starving to death, and all he felt was dread when he looked at the food.

"You need to eat something," Satoshi said a bit impatiently.

"I can't," Krad snapped back.

"Why not?" Satoshi returned.

The angel looked away. "I can't do this," Krad said again, and the tone of the words made Satoshi freeze. The blonde's cold, even voice had suddenly twisted into something closer to pain. When the angel turned and met his eyes, Satoshi was almost alarmed by the sudden desperation in them.

"I can't do this with you." His voice was low, but shaking.

Satoshi stared at him. There was no other reaction that made sense when the angriest being he'd ever met was sitting across the table from him looking ready to break down. What the hell had that bitch done to him?

"What are you talking about?"

Krad narrowed his eyes on Satoshi, making a weak impression of anger. "Are you an idiot? I'll kill you. You can't tame me again. I'm free. Even if you know what food I like and how I am, I'll just kill you."

The boy wasn't sure how to react to the blonde's conflicted tone. He gave the angel a disbelieving stare. "You won't do that."

Krad's empty eyes glared at him. "You save me from one captor so you can keep me under control yourself. It isn't going to work. I won't stay with you. I'll eat your food and then I'll kill you. What the hell makes you think I won't?"

Satoshi dropped into a very quiet, very serious voice. "You don't look like you want to," he said with more confidence than he felt.

"Then your time with Dark has made you naïve," Krad said, disliking his words even as he spoke them.

Satoshi worked to keep his frown angry and not disappointed. What had he really expected, anyway? "If you want to kill me so much, what are you so upset about? Just eat the damned food, before you're too weak to feed yourself. Then we can find out who kills who," he said coldly.

The angel paused without a response. Was it that obvious how drained he was? Then again, he supposed Satoshi was the expert in that department. How many times had the boy been through this, or worse, and never told him? In any case, the prospect of being too weak to eat was not a pleasant one, so he reached out and took a piece of chicken.

Satoshi rolled his eyes and snatched up his French fries, eating them without much appetite. He fixed his gaze out the window next to their table, at anything other than the jerk sitting across from him. Still, he found himself tracking the angel out of the corner of his eye, curious if he would really eat or not.

Krad took the first bite slowly, but as soon as the food touched his throat, his body screamed with hunger. Biting back his pride, he practically inhaled the rest of the chicken. He seemed confused at first by the Gatorade, but he was too thirsty to care. He downed the large cup in one long, desperate draught. Overwhelmed with relief, he wound up choking on the last gulp and burst out coughing. When he managed to compose himself, he set the cup down and took a long, deep breath. He raised his gaze and tensed as he realized that at some point, Satoshi had begun watching him.

The younger man's lips twitched ever so slightly upward. "What about my share?" he asked the angel, throwing a crestfallen look at the empty chicken basket.

Krad's eyes widened slightly, and the angel looked uncharacteristically embarrassed. His first instinct was to rebut with "Your share? You told me…" but by the middle of his sentence, he caught on to the boy's sarcasm. Satoshi had burst into a smile. The angel blinked in annoyed confusion. "Do not mock me," he warned him.

Satoshi tried very hard not to laugh. "That was a shockingly polite reaction, coming from the destroyer of mankind," he said, unable to hold back his grin even if it did inspire the angel's wrath. "Is there some special code of valor that says not to hog chicken nuggets from a man you've sworn to murder?"

Krad stood up in the booth, looming above the boy. "Perhaps I should take care of you right here," he growled. As he spoke, the door behind him swung open and two men who looked dangerously familiar stalked into the doorway. Satoshi's attention flicked between Krad and the men, who were staring straight at them with something in their hands. Satoshi recognized the steel shafts of their guns instantly and paled. They'd been followed.

"Get down," he hissed to Krad. The angel glared at him, having no intention to back down to the boy. "No, actually get down," Satoshi growled, leaping up to grab Krad's lapel and tug him downward just as a bullet whizzed over the angel's head and shattered the huge picture window they'd been sitting in front of. The girl at the register shrieked and ducked behind the counter. Krad recovered his balance and stared back across the room behind him, noticing the men for the first time.

The two lackeys began stalking toward them with their weapons trained on them both. Midnight emerged through the door behind them and strolled elegantly across the glass-covered linoleum floor. "Well, this is very interesting, Deputy Commander. Do you always take criminals out to lunch after you arrest them?" she smirked darkly. One of her men hung back at her side while the other approached their table, gun trained on Krad.

"Midnight, you're in public," Satoshi said in a wary monotone. "This is no place to make a scene. There are civilians."

"I am not a cop, 'Commander,' and I suspect you're not either," she said, so let's cut the 'civilian' crap. "I believe you ought to return what is mine. We were just getting to know each other," she rolled her eyes suggestively at Krad. The angel visibly bristled at the suggestion. "And he was finally getting _into_ it," she smirked.

Satoshi's eyes flashed a dangerous, electric blue. "You aren't fit to _look _at him," he said in a tone cold enough to burn.

Something in that too-calm voice raised the flesh on Krad's arms. He glanced at Satoshi, confusion sweeping aside his anger for a moment. The younger man was taking a step away from the table toward Midnight's men. Both men shifted their aim to him as he approached slowly, but they clearly hadn't expected him to move.

"You'd be very naïve to think I'm not willing to have them shoot you right now, puppy," Midnight warned the blue-haired man.

Satoshi stopped. He was two feet from the barrel of the closer man's gun. "I think you're bluffing," he said, shoving his hands calmly into his pockets. "Because _he_ isn't aiming for my head." He gestured with his chin at the man standing across the room next to Midnight.

It happened quickly.

Midnight looked to her left. The man in front of Satoshi glanced behind him to check the aim of the thug in question. The thug in question cast a defensive look at Midnight, because he absolutely was aiming at Satoshi's head. Satoshi's right hand came out of his pocket. It was holding a small cylinder. When the man in front of him returned attention to his target, he saw only a burst of spray. Then the pain set in. The thug cursed and fired blindly where his target had just been. There was a twang of metal as the bullet ricocheted uselessly off a table leg, just as a hand closed on his wrist.

It didn't take much wresting to get the man to let go of his gun; he released the grip all too easily to Satoshi's control as his hands flew to press against his burning eyes. Satoshi turned the barrel on Midnight and hauled her badly peppered lackey sideways to stand like a shield between them and the remaining gun. "Krad, the window," he barked.

The angel didn't need to be told twice. The second he was out of the line of fire, he jerked to his feet, his body moving surprisingly better than earlier. The food was starting to help. He stepped nimbly from the booth bench to the table and then jumped out the broken window, landing on his feet on the glass-strewn sidewalk outside. Then came the new question of where to run. In an instant, Satoshi landed next to him with slightly less grace. "This way," his former wing host breathed, scrambling to his right across broken glass and old pavement. A bullet whizzed past the angel's ear while Satoshi gestured for him to follow.

He knew he should run the other way.

Satoshi glanced over his shoulder as he broke into a sprint for the street. He was relieved to see the angel running next to him. However, when they reached the road and it was apparent the young Hikari was heading for the car, Krad dropped back. "No," he decided.

Satoshi stopped short and cast the angel a wild look. "Not now, Krad, they're coming!" he nearly screamed.

"I'll find my own way," the angel said coldly, moving to rip off his coat.

Satoshi glanced at the restaurant. Bells jangled violently as the door flew open and two figures ran out. He had to find a way to make the angel get it. "Krad, I don't care how much better you think you feel right now, I swear that the moment you try to fly with that body, you'll end up drained senseless on the pavement," the boy warned him fiercely. "Get in the car."

There was no time to wait for an answer. Satoshi ran for the driver's side door and swung it open as a bullet ricocheted off the car's hood. The boy realized in dread that it hadn't come from the direction of the restaurant. Of course, Midnight had backup outside. Three motorcycles with apparently armed riders were sitting in the parking lot, next to the Lexus he'd seen in Midnight's driveway earlier.

He couldn't afford to contemplate how bad this was. He swooped into the seat and turned his key in the engine, knowing there was no time left to reason with Krad. As he was hauling his door shut, a click sounded next to him, and the passenger-side door yanked open. Krad glided into the car with a hiss of curses, slamming his door in the same fluid motion. Satoshi threw the car into gear and bolted out of his space as fast as his hybrid's engine would forgive. A rumble of engines pulled out behind them as the motorcycles swerved into the street. A few hundred feet behind, the Lexus backed up the chase.

After his bold theatrics in the restaurant, Satoshi looked comparatively pale and out of breath. He didn't spare a glance at his former counterpart as he blew through a newly red light. The entourage chasing him gave no heed to the light either, intimidating the waiting vehicles on the opposing street into staying stopped. Satoshi drew a deep breath and hooked left onto a sidestreet. He had to get them to a less populated area.

"They're catching up," Krad noted crossly.

"I can see that," Satoshi snapped. "Not like we're going to outrace motorcycles with a hybrid." He swerved right onto another road, cutting off an older-looking vehicle.

"Oh, no, it makes much more sense to try to _outmaneuver_ motorcycles," Krad snapped back sarcastically, grabbing on for dear life to the ceiling with one hand and the door handle with the other. The angel sucked in a tight breath as the door unlatched and swung halfway open, giving him a glimpse of the racing pavement underneath them.

"Door ajar," the car computer announced helpfully in a female monotone.

"Shit, Krad!" Satoshi growled, nearly swerving off the road as he leaned across the angel to tug the door shut again. "You never pull that while a car's moving! Don't you know that?" A bullet sprang off their rear bumper, probably aimed at their tires. "You're not even wearing a seatbelt." He reached down to a button on his armrest and child-locked the doors, just to be safe.

"I have no intention of strapping myself into a vehicle you're piloting," Krad snorted back.

"Control freak," Satoshi muttered, following a curve in the road much faster than the car could comfortably handle. Behind them, the motorcycles leaned close to the ground as they hugged the turn.

A phone started ringing. Satoshi gritted his teeth and ignored it, too busy with his reckless driving. But on the third ring, he finally dug into his pocket and pulled out the phone. The display flashed "Risa." His expression flatlined.

"What is it?" Krad demanded, holding on as they swung left.

"My girlfriend. I need to drive, you answer it," Satoshi barked, throwing the phone to Krad. He grabbed the wheel again just in time to avoid a startled pedestrian.

"You have a girlfriend?" Krad demanded as he caught the phone.

"It could be important, just find out what she wants," Satoshi said impatiently.

Krad looked down at the display on the phone blankly.

"Hit 'accept'," Satoshi explained irately.

Krad frowned at the display. A backlit green button flashed 'accept'. He pushed it and raised the device to his ear. "Hello?" he muttered uncertainly.

"…Satoshi?" a familiar voice murmured. "Where are you? There's a lot of noise."

"He's driving," Krad snapped as they veered right. A bullet pinged off the rear door.

"Who is this?" the girl asked warily, fear starting up in her voice. She knew exactly who he was, and Krad knew her voice as well.

"Risa Harada," Krad addressed her coldly. "What do you want?"

"If you've done something to Satoshi, I'll"

Krad smirked. "You do not frighten me. At all. What did you want to tell 'Satoshi'?" he asked her in amusement.

"Where are you?" she demanded.

Satoshi could guess how the conversation was going. "Risa, I can't hold the phone," he growled, nearly colliding with another car as they ignored a red light. The other vehicle graced them with a long, angry honk as they blew through the intersection.

"Speak quickly," Krad's cold voice ordered.

"I j-…S….Something is wrong with Dark. I can't tell, but he was talking to Shira about something, and it sounded like he knew more of Gorudo's plan than she did. This is stupid, you don't even know who Gorudo is…"

"I have an excellent memory," Krad said stiffly, not wanting to hear about Dark.

"Fine, just…tell Satoshi there might be more to this than just splitting Dark's soul from Daisuke's. I think they're after something more, I just don't know what it is yet. Something smells really bad about the whole thing. Arg, why am I even telling this to you?"

"Separate their souls?" Krad scoffed. "That's pointless."

"Why?" Risa demanded. "It just means they want him in his pure form."

Krad tensed as Satoshi took a 'shortcut' over some sidewalk and began cutting recklessly across a parking lot. He really didn't feel like talking to the Harada twit right now, but he had to admit that the thought of some scientist trying to break his counterpart from his soul link was rather amusing.

"Think, human. His 'pure form' would require me," Krad said condescendingly into the phone. "Dark's soul is an incomplete half. As is mine. The connection to Niwa blood allows for his existence, but he would not survive as a severed half. If he has put himself in such a situation, he is even more a fool than I thought," Krad smirked.

Satoshi glanced at him, too distracted to really grasp what they were talking about.

"You're making that up…." Risa murmured in confusion, "You're….fine, then why is Gorudo-"

"I _really_ do not care," Krad scoffed. "And I am bored of taking your message. Call him back later.

"Krad, please don't hurt-"

Her plea went unheard as the angel hung up.

"That could have gone worse," Satoshi acknowledged as Krad dropped the phone into the coin tray between them like a dirty tissue. He looked ahead of them and saw an entrance ramp for the highway. It was a commuter road. There shouldn't be many cars there in the middle of the day. He swerved onto the ramp and tried not to notice the ground dropping below them as they rode the elevated ramp up and over the highway well beyond the speed limit.

The highway was mercifully empty. Satoshi flew into the middle lane and stepped on it, pushing the car as fast as he could make it go.

"What exactly do you plan to do now?" Krad demanded, looking back at the other vehicles that were still gaining on them all too easily.

"There's a gun in the glove compartment," Satoshi said breathlessly.

Krad looked down at the compartment in front of him and felt along the latch, looking for something to pull. He glared at it and gave it a firm rap with his fist.

"Push the sides together, for Godsake," Satoshi snapped.

"How should I be able to know that?" the angel glowered as he fumbled to press at the latch from the sides.

The younger man darted his attention to the motorcycles flanking them in his rearview mirror and then glanced back to the road. "It's no wonder Dark always bests us when you have the technical prowess of a medieval peasant."

"When exactly was I supposed to learn how to use a car? I didn't get out much," Krad accused as he finally managed to squeeze together the latch and get the compartment open.

"When exactly was _I_ supposed to teach you? Between ruining my life and trashing my body, you didn't have a whole lot of unstructured time," Satoshi returned the accusation coldly.

"That wasn't structure, that was just _recreation_," the angel sneered as he lifted the gun from the glove box. He sat up and looked back at Satoshi. The boy was watching the road, but his face visibly slackened, like he'd been punched. Those blue eyes shining, aching, remembering. _No. Stop it…_

"Give me the gun," Satoshi murmured. "I'm not teaching you." All too easily, the gun was set firmly in his waiting hand. He didn't have time to wonder why Krad was suddenly cooperating, any more than he had time to think about what the angel just said. All those nights of relentless, crippling pain that had driven him to the edge of suicide and madness…had been on purpose? For _recreation?_

The road had reached the sea alongside the city and was now following the steeply curving cliffside that bordered the bay. They were bounded by steep rock on one side, and only a flimsy guardrail stood between them and the cliff on the other side. The good news was that the curvy environment was distracting the cyclists from shooting.

Satoshi ducked as a shower of bullets shattered the back windshield, sending a loud rush of air whooshing through the car. Another stray shot hit his sideview mirror.

Well, at least they were distracted from shooting _well._

He fumbled the safety off his gun and laid it in his lap as motorcycles pulled up along them on both sides. The one on the right aimed his gun at the passenger's side window. Krad put his head down without needing to be told as Satoshi swerved firmly to the right. Before the biker could shoot, the car knocked him hard into the rocky cliff. The bike swerved out of control. It slammed into Satoshi's car again with a wicked shriek of metal and then bounced back into the wall before falling behind them. It crashed into the third bike, which had been hanging back with the Lexus, and the two vehicles tumbled across the pavement in a smoky blitz.

A metallic wail sounded from the front right wheel of the car, and the whole vehicle dragged erratically to the right before Satoshi barely regained control of the steering.

"What's that sound?" Krad demanded, raising his head.

"A flat. We're driving on the rim," Satoshi growled, glancing out the left window to check on the remaining bike that had flanked him. It wasn't there.

"Straight ahead," Krad warned.

A bullet hit their front windshield, splintering the entire surface with cracks, but the pressure-treated glass didn't break. Unfortunately, Satoshi also couldn't see.

Before the Hikari could even ask, Krad had already shifted in his seat to get his leg loose. He gave the faulted windshield a fierce kick, and it poured in dull chunks all across them and the front seat. Satoshi barely swerved away from the cliff side of the road and managed to focus in front of him again.

The last motorcyclist was straight ahead. Looking back at them through the open windshield. Aiming.

Two shots fired.

Pain like white fire exploded in Krad's chest. The initial burst struck right into the center of his chest, and the second hit lower and to the side, into his lung. His gold eyes widened with shock and a startled cry tore from his throat. He wrapped his arms around his chest convulsively.

"_Auggh!"_ Satoshi's voice cut through his concentration. Krad forced his watering eyes to focus as the car suddenly swerved. An agonized sound, like someone choking on his own breath, made him look at Satoshi. The boy was hunched forward with his forehead pressed to the steering wheel. His eyes were clenched tight. It took a moment of confused staring for Krad to notice the hole in Satoshi's seatbelt…the second hole in his shirt. Chest wounds.

Lethal wounds.

Struck with an impossible suspicion, the angel looked down at his own throbbing chest. The jacket Satoshi had given him was clean and whole. His stomach suddenly tried to climb up through his throat. His pain mirrored the boy's wounds, yet he was uninjured. That was impossible. They were no longer…they couldn't…

The car was drifting dangerously close to the cliff. Krad threw out an arm and grabbed the wheel, pulling it toward the center of the road. "Satoshi-sama!" he shouted, his lungs much fuller than they felt. This pain was not his. It was the boy's.

The younger man's eyes opened, looking glassy and stunned. He opened his mouth, but couldn't seem to breathe. The boy glanced at Krad's chest and then looked blearily down at his own. A spark of understanding showed in his strained expression. He took his foot off the gas, but couldn't will it to move to step on the brake.

Satoshi closed his eyes tightly, forcing his composure, channeling his thoughts. He slammed his hand limply onto a button at his side. The locks on the doors popped up.

_***Get Out. Now!***_

The words crashed into Krad's mind desperately, just before Satoshi sagged forward bonelessly against the steering wheel. The pain in the angel's chest turned off like someone had flipped a switch. Krad went pale, not just from the psychic words that had made it to his mind and what they meant, but also from the staggering wall of desperation and utter loneliness that had leaked through the boy's mind with those words for just a second.

This wasn't like checking on Dark after the change to their new bodies. It wasn't like saving the brat on the rollercoaster. There wasn't a moment's deliberation this time. Not even a really coherent thought.

Krad set his jaw and threw open his door. He crouched in the doorway, holding onto the roof, and used the door as a foothold to vault up onto the top of the car. The wind threw his loose hair in wild, thrashing strands around his body as he flattened himself on his stomach against the metal and hung his arm down the other side of the hybrid, grabbing for the handle on Satoshi's door. He found it and threw the door wide.

The car had picked up a distinct rightward slant in its trajectory, while the road turned left just ahead. The vehicle was going to hit the stone wall. Krad shimmied across the roof and dropped down to crouch inside Satoshi's door. He fumbled with the boy's seatbelt latch for a second, uncertain how to open it, and finally just blasted it loose out of frustration. He hauled Satoshi's limp body into his arms and pulled it in tight against his chest, pocketing the gun. The angel glanced down at the moving pavement outside. They were losing speed, but it was still too fast to be safe. There was no time to take off the coat and spread his wings. Bracing himself, he curled his shoulders and limbs around the boy as best he could and dove out onto the street.

Krad tumbled with the boy for several yards, erring onto the grassy shoulder before they mercifully came to a stop. The hybrid crashed roughly into the stone wall, spun out, flipped, and flew through the guardrail. The first thing the angel saw when the world stopped spinning was Satoshi's car heaving off the cliff toward the rocky surf below.

**--o0o0O0o0o--**

_**To be continued! **_

_**This was originally going to be one chapter, but I see it's already grown rather hefty in length, so I'm going to post the first half now and then go on to write the rest. I'm sure I'm going to babble spoilers if I do shout outs, so I will hold off until the next part for that too, but as always, I am completely in debt to you guys for reading and leaving me such wonderful feedback! Every time I get an email from ffdotnet, it makes my day. I'd love to hear what folks think of this part. It was a lot of fun to write : ) **_

_**Love, Kat**_


	26. Crash and Burn Part 2

**Part 26: Crash and Burn Part II**

-oOoOo-

Krad raised his head stiffly from the ground and watched in shock as Satoshi's hybrid tumbled through the guardrail and off the cliff next to the highway. He could have been in that car. So could Satoshi. So _would_ Satoshi, if the angel hadn't pulled the boy out with him.

He was lying on his side on the grassy shoulder of the road. Satoshi lay deathly still alongside him, his back pressed to the angel's chest. Krad's arms were still looped fiercely around the boy's chest and waist.

The blonde's nerves were buzzing from the impact of the rolling dive he'd taken out of the moving car. He groaned and let his cheek rest back against the rocky soil as he took a mental inventory of the damage. His limbs at least felt functional, and he didn't think anything was broken. That didn't stop the sense of growing panic that was blazing through him. He couldn't ignore the warm body he was still clutching against him. Satoshi wasn't moving.

The angel slowly unlatched one of his arms and raised his hand to the boy's throat, pressing his fingers firmly to Satoshi's vein. Krad could hear his own pulse crashing violently in his ears, but the wing host had no rhythm of his own.

The angel stared at the back of Satoshi's head and slowly withdrew his hand. He told himself it wasn't a surprise. The boy had taken two shots to the chest. It would be impossible for a human to survive that much, not to mention the violent jump from the car.

His head spun. Krad turned his gaze stiffly to the pavement beneath him rather than Satoshi. The sound of engines approaching was almost a welcome distraction as it broke into his moment of…whatever this was. The angel raised his eyes to the road, remembering finally that he was still being pursued. The Lexus that had been tailing them pulled to a stop a few yards away. The biker that was responsible for Satoshi's wounds doubled back as well, parking on the opposite shoulder. Krad's senses began to click back on, like the whole world had been on pause. He flung his attention to his pursuers and forced it to stay there. He couldn't afford to be off his guard right now.

A man and a woman stepped out of the car. He recognized Midnight immediately. It took a second longer to recognize Ryuusuke walking next to her with a pistol in his hand. Krad reached down slowly and felt for the gun he'd pocketed from Satoshi's car. His fingers curled around the grip while his pointer found the trigger. The angel hadn't used a gun before, but he at least knew enough to fire it. Unsure of his aim, he waited for them to come closer, like a croc waiting for a gazelle to approach the water. He would only get to surprise them once.

"Well, Krad, you've certainly caused some trouble," Midnight said coldly. "Your friend doesn't look too healthy. Very gallant, that little stunt you pulled. Could it be that boy's fault you're such a lousy pet?"

Krad narrowed his eyes, anger flaring up in him. He gripped the gun and jerked it out, pointing it straight at Ryuusuke. There was no hesitation. He fired at the man's chest. The bullet caught Ryuusuke in the gut and sent him to the ground screaming. The explosion reverberated through Krad's skull.

He turned the barrel on Midnight next. She was staring at Ryuusuke and backing up, about to run back to the car. The motorcyclist was beginning to run toward them from the other side of the street, holding a pistol. Krad scowled at his retreating target, deadly intent glowing in his eyes.

Midnight didn't make it back to the car. Krad's bullet passed through her shoulder, and the next hit the small of her back off-center. She shrieked in pain and tripped to the ground. She convulsed on the pavement and then fell still.

Krad's attention didn't linger on his kill. He spun his focus toward the biker that was running toward them and cast him a feral snarl. He swung his aim in the man's direction, fired, and missed. The biker cocked his own weapon and fired, but Krad was a difficult target lying on the ground. The angel shot again, and hit the man dead in the chest. The goon's body jolted backwards and then landed heavily on the pavement.

The angel jumped stiffly to his feet and walked with murderous deliberation to stand over the groaning man. He took aim from feet above his target, and fired. The man's chest gushed grotesquely through his shirt and onto the asphalt.

It wasn't enough.

Krad fired again, and again, until the round clicked empty under the frantic trilling of his pointer finger. His gold eyes widened with fury. He wanted more bullets. He wanted to focus on the deafening ring in his ears while he fired a perpetual stream of ammunition into this man's corpse. He reached down and scooped up the man's pistol, flinging Satoshi's empty gun aside. He found his grip on the new weapon and fired into the dead goon's face. Gore splashed across the pavement. Without pause, he turned and fired into Midnight's squirming body until the trigger denied him. She stopped moving.

So did Krad. He stood stock-still, his ears thrumming. The bloody corpses lay there, useless, mocking him. They weren't enough. They could never be enough. There was no prize, no sense of reward. He'd gotten his wish. They were all dead: the whore, the goons…

…and the boy.

The boy was dead.

"_And when you're all done killing and avenging, then what?" _

His hands began to shake.

The answer didn't matter. He would never be done. After hundreds of years of fighting, of existing with no rational goal except to one day be free, he finally had the liberty and the means to take the revenge that was the only thing he could ever remember wanting.

And it seemed like a sick joke, like the most supreme injustice, that _it wasn't enough_.

It would never be enough.

The gun slipped from his fingers and clattered to the ground.

He turned slowly and forced his eyes to the too-still body, the lifeless blue hair splayed out on the pavement. His stomach gave a warning twist of pain, and he knew he was going to be sick.

The angel curled over and emptied his stomach onto the street. He knew he had to think, that it was imperative that he calm down. Breathless, he swiped at his mouth with an unsteady hand and knelt desperately still on the pavement. Sirens began to sound in the distance. The angel didn't move. He couldn't compose his thoughts, and he couldn't stop shaking.

The sound of a soft groan made him freeze. A familiar pain shuddered into his chest, like an engine choking into gear. Krad doubled over and gagged on the splintering sensation. _The boy. _As quickly as it had set in, the sensation flashed out like a snuffed candle. Krad leapt to his feet and turned to stare at Satoshi's body. Had he just felt the boy die? He couldn't think of any other explanation.

He stood up and faced the body. His feet tried to pull him in the other direction, but he picked up speed little by little. His shaking hands clenched at his sides as he reached the younger man's side and crouched next to him. The boy looked gray in the face, like he couldn't get enough air, but his expression was knitted with discomfort too real for a corpse.

Tiny shreds of reality began leaking in again as Krad forced himself to look at the boy. Something quietly clicked back on inside the angel. He blinked and studied his former wing host warily. The boy was alive, at least for the moment. There was blood drying down the side of his face from a shallow cut on his head.

Satoshi sucked in a wheezing breath. His eyes drifted open like twin skies and looked up at Krad blearily. It appeared to take several moments for the boy to recognize the features of the one kneeling over him. "Krad?" he murmured hoarsely. His brows furrowed in confusion. "I'm…?" His breathing slipped into a run of short, thin gasps.

"Stop talking," Krad ordered. He was busy assessing the dry holes in Satoshi's shirt, realizing that the cloth wasn't stained. There was no blood. The angel couldn't seem to make himself accept what he saw. He didn't understand. "I saw you shot," he murmured tensely. He could feel his own pulse rioting in his chest.

The boy looked confused by the way he was reacting. "Krad," he wheezed uncertainly, almost comfortingly, "I'm wearing a vest."

Krad glanced to the boy's face and back to his chest, weighing Satoshi's statement against the certainty that a few seconds ago, he'd been sure he felt the boy die, his link dropping apart instantly. "I can't…_feel_ you," he challenged Satoshi, his gold eyes demanding an explanation.

"I'm withholding my end of the link," Satoshi rasped. His breath seemed to hurt him. "The connection's still there. I still feel you."

The look of confusion on the angel's face slowly shifted to realization. He frowned. The boy's mind was closed off, cocooned in its own pain. He was doing it again…employing whatever trick he had used to keep it to himself years ago, when the blonde had ruthlessly drained him far beyond his limits, over and over. Krad bit back the ever-nagging question of 'why?' "Can't you breathe?" he demanded crossly instead.

Satoshi blinked at his tone, his expression full of wary confusion. "You're upset," the boy observed blearily. He studied the angel, probably trying to figure out what could be making the blonde this worked up. Then his blue gaze shifted behind Krad and noticed the carnage on the street for the first time. If it surprised him, he didn't show it. "Did they shoot you?" he asked between gasps, still watching the morbid scene without expression.

"Of course not," the angel growled back.

Krad expected the boy to try to give him some sort of lecture, but Satoshi just smirked, sort of, at Krad's gruesome handiwork. When the police arrived, there would be no good explanation for obliterating the bodies this severely. At the very least, he'd lose his career in law enforcement. Still, his expression betrayed a sense of grim satisfaction. "Could have…gone worse," he strained, closing his eyes.

Shifting his attention away from Krad, Satoshi dragged a hand across the ground and fumbled open the top button of his shirt. His hand immediately moved to the next button and worked at it with less success. His fingers moved clumsily, without focus, while his breath grew gradually shorter. When he finally got the button undone, he moved on to the next, more and more urgent. "Hate getting shot," he muttered in a choked whisper. His hand was trembling almost beyond use, and his color was growing worse.

Krad narrowed his eyes and observed the boy's condition. It took several moments for him to finally realize what was happening. Vest or no vest, Satoshi had taken the full impact of the bullets. He may as well have stood there and let someone swing a hammer into his chest. There was little doubt that his ribs were broken, and with the form-fitting armor around his chest, the swelling was probably forcing itself inward against his lungs. The boy was suffocating.

A week ago, Krad would have laughed. He would have looked on with vindictive satisfaction while his wing host's own armor gradually squeezed him to death.

Instead, Satoshi's suffering provoked restless panic in the angel. He couldn't bring himself to enjoy this. The sense of nameless, irreversible loss he'd felt moments before surged back to him all over again.

_It would never be enough. _

"Lie on your back," Krad ordered thinly. When Satoshi didn't respond, he leaned forward and clutched the boy's shoulder to do it for him.

"Don't," Satoshi breathed, startled by the angel's touch.

The angel ignored his protest and put his other hand on Satoshi's hip, rolling him flat onto his back. "_God_ I hate you," the boy groaned sharply as the pain flared up in his battered chest. He cast Krad a feral look, but he didn't try to swat the angel away. As if he could succeed in this condition anyway.

Krad ignored the boy's comments. He reached down and yanked Satoshi's shirt open, sending buttons skittering across the pavement. The angel forced back the sour memory of Midnight doing something very similar to Ryuusuke.

He pulled the fabric of Satoshi's shirt aside, revealing the black Kevlar vest that had been concealed underneath. The bullets were still embedded in the fiber over his heart and lung, flattened from the impact. A series of three plastic buckles that attached to vinyl straps held the armor snug against Satoshi's form. Or, in this case, suffocatingly tight. The unyielding fabric barely rose and fell at all with the boy's labored breaths.

Krad reached out slowly, like he was about to defuse a bomb. He could feel electric blue eyes following his hands as he grasped one of the buckles from each end.

The younger man couldn't quite believe that the angel seemed to be helping him. "The sides of the clasp push--"

"I know how to open it," Krad snarled, shifting his fingers around the sides of the buckle and squeezing. It sprung open, and the whole garment shifted slightly. The angel repeated the process with the other two buckles. The vest fell open, releasing its death grip on Satoshi's shattered ribcage. Angry, blackening welts raised the flesh where the shots had landed, but there was no blood. He wasn't going to die.

Satoshi sucked in a long gasp and closed his eyes, drawing breaths as deeply as his ribs would forgive. Krad dropped the Kevlar he'd been holding and drew his hand away from his wing host.

Satoshi glanced up at the angel kneeling next to him. "You could have killed me," he noted breathlessly. None of it made any sense… "You pulled me out of the car," the boy realized, squinting in confusion.

"By accident," Krad growled.

Satoshi's blue eyes drifted to the angel's bright amber and stuck there. What the hell was going on? In the midst of his own thoughts, he could feel the angel's pulse pounding crazily, like he'd been dealt some sort of devastating blow. "Krad…calm down," he said quietly, "You're going to give us both a heart attack."

A hot flash of frustration glowed in the angel's eyes. "I am calm," he seethed.

The sirens in the distance were growing closer.

"Fine," Satoshi finally said to avoid an argument. Krad's behavior was too confusing make sense of right now. He began sitting up, cringing at the movement. "You need to go."

"What happened to needing to 'keep me under control'?" Krad jabbed.

Satoshi cast him a stern look. "My options are limited," he said coldly, pushing up to his feet. He wavered slightly as his legs regained their confidence. "It'll be hard enough explaining all this." He gestured with an arm across the crashed vehicles and carnage and began walking stiffly to retrieve the gun Krad had dropped on the ground. He picked it up and threw it over the cliff. "You need to get lost."

"Maybe I'd rather watch you squirm," Krad snorted.

"You just missed your chance for that, didn't you?" Satoshi frowned and faced him. The stricken expression he found on the angel's face threw him even further off guard. He squinted at Krad in confusion. "I don't know if you're trying to 'wait for the right time' to kill me, or what," he said firmly, "but whatever's going on in that messed-up brain of yours, you need to go away. Now. If they find you, they will go after you. Do you get that? They won't stop. They will hunt you down until they catch you, and then they'll lock you away. They'll try to figure out how you tick. The world will watch in bald curiosity while you slowly lose your mind."

Krad gave a cold smirk in response to this theory. "And how is that different from your own plans?" he scoffed.

The boy shook his head in frustration. "It would never have worked the way I had planned," he said coldly. He tried to keep the disappointment out of his eyes. What had he been thinking? That he and Krad could coexist in some kind of healthy relationship? This was a being who admitted to torturing him just for 'entertainment.' It spoke to his own desperation that he'd even considered such a thing.

The sirens wailed closer. There was no more time to think about it.

"Go, now!" he shouted at the angel. When Krad just crossed his arms and smirked at how worked up he was getting, Satoshi shoved him backward. "This isn't a joke, you bastard!" he snarled. The blonde lost about a foot of ground to the unexpected impact, but he showed no sign of backing down. Satoshi scowled and drew his arms back to go at the angel again.

Krad instinctively threw his hand forward into the boy's unprotected chest, knocking him backward. The relatively light hit stopped the younger man's momentum easily, perhaps a little too effectively. Satoshi staggered backward, overwhelmed with pain, and dropped to his knees. The boy wrapped his arms around his throbbing chest and stayed still. "Bastard," he hissed, throwing a frustrated fist down into the pavement. The impact made him shudder.

Krad froze stock-still and stared at the boy. He pulled his hand back against his body where it couldn't do any more damage and took a cautious step toward him. "Satoshi-"

"I don't want them after you," Satoshi's low voice stopped him. "Do you even get that?" The younger man looked up at him with cold blue eyes that were guarded, impenetrable. It was a look that said he was ready to fight, but didn't really expect to win. All the anger and hope and honest human emotion that the wing host had shown him earlier that day were gone now, confiscated and preserved under a wall of ice. It was a look Satoshi had worn often, _before. _Krad noted without much satisfaction that it had taken him less than an hour to push the boy back to that desperate, defensive edge.

The angel approached the boy slowly, earning a warning glare from his former wing host. He crouched next to Satoshi.

The moment he got close, a hard fist lashed out and punched him in the jaw. "I said to go, you bastard," Satoshi growled.

Krad tensed at the impact, but he didn't return the blow or even meet the boy's eyes. He just took a deep breath and pulled off the coat Satoshi had loaned him. His wings stretched up freely from his shoulders. "We're both going," he said.

Strong arms found their grip under his legs and back, so carefully that it was difficult to believe, and lifted him up.

The boy's eyes went wide as he found himself hoisted up against the angel's chest. He thought about punching him again, but his ribs begged him to hold still. "Put me down," he snapped, knowing full well he couldn't fight the angel right now. Nor could he even begin to understand what the blonde was up to.

Krad ignored him and stretched his wings experimentally. He beat the powerful, feathered limbs in a strong downward motion that pulled them steadily upward.

"Krad, you can't fly. You're still recovering," Satoshi warned, his hands gripping the angel's arm in protest as if he could tug himself back to the ground.

"Don't tell me what my body can handle," Krad snapped. He banked left and took them over the edge of the cliffside, where he could dive to pick up more speed.

Satoshi wrestled in the angel's arms as they surged down toward the sea. "Someone needs to explain this to the police," he shouted over the wind.

Krad's grip tightened. "If they find you there, you'll be held responsible."

Satoshi frowned and said nothing. He knew it was true. He also knew that a little jail time would be nothing to him compared to what the angel would go through if he was pegged for this. He had to ask himself, why not? Why not let the authorities take Krad off his hands? It scared him that he didn't know. "I'm a cop, and Midnight's a known menace. They won't press full charges against me."

"Stop talking. You're giving me a migraine," Krad sighed.

A questioning silence wedged itself between them as the wind rushed around their forms. They soon ascended back up over the shore and began to soar inland, over the east side of the city.

"Where are you going?" Satoshi finally asked.

"Your house," Krad answered flatly.

Satoshi's lips flattened into a mirthless smirk as he realized where Krad meant. "I don't live there anymore. Everyone died, or did you forget?" he said coldly.

The angel paused. "Where, then?" he pushed.

"I don't trust you."

"You can also fall," Krad offered.

Satoshi wondered what the angel was trying to do. He was almost too tired to care. "The west side. Near Niwa's place," the boy said, knowing full well he shouldn't tell Krad where he lived. Maybe the shock from the accident was finally setting in, or maybe it was just a survival instinct that said not to fight with someone who was holding him 30 stories above the ground.

Krad said nothing, but his wings shifted slightly, and their direction changed. The angel was seriously taking him home.

"I don't understand you," Satoshi muttered.

Krad just looked straight ahead and seemed to be concentrating on something else.

The boy was too exhausted to argue further. He tried to stay focused on the buildings scrolling by underneath them and told himself there really wasn't much he could do until Krad decided to let him down. Besides, he was hopelessly tired. Krad's body was much warmer than Satoshi's felt, and the temptation to melt into that sensation and sleep was stronger than he would think possible in these circumstances.

They'd gone about half way when a strangely damp sensation drew Satoshi's eyes to the angel's left arm, which was supporting his knees. The clumsy bandage on Krad's palm was thoroughly soaked, and thin trails of blood were dripping down the blonde's wrist toward his elbow. "Krad!" Satoshi's gut twisted at the obviously excruciating wound. Something wasn't right. He cast the angel a suspicious look. "Doesn't that hurt?" he demanded.

"Slightly," the angel muttered, sounding distracted.

"Why don't I feel it?" Satoshi demanded warily.

"Experimenting," Krad strained.

The boy's eyes widened. "You're trying to block me."

"A little more than trying," the angel clarified stiffly.

"If you're trying to protect me--"

"Experimenting," Krad asserted again.

"Knock it off. You're not used to masking your link. It will drain you," the boy warned. Satoshi couldn't really believe it. Krad had never once succeeded in restraining his aura, or perhaps he'd just never tried. But of all the times for him to try, this wasn't the one Satoshi would have picked. His confidence that the angel was strong enough to fly was unjustified if he couldn't feel the warning signs of fatigue in the blonde. "Krad, listen to me. If you're tired, land while you can. You're still drained from earlier. You'll get us both killed."

"I know what I'm capable of," Krad snarled.

Satoshi fell silent and stared at the angel's bleeding hand. "Why are you trying to help me? I could have handled the police."

"I'm just getting you out of my way."

"You could have just left me at the scene like I told—"

"You didn't do anything wrong, so stop fussing over it," Krad snapped.

Satoshi tensed up instinctively at the angel's anger, but after a moment, his own outrage took over. "It's not as if it was your fault, either," he said. "She should never have tried to touch you."

Krad's expression stiffened. Satoshi watched him closely. Their link offered him nothing as far as what the angel was thinking. "Krad…did Midnight actually…I mean, what--?"

"We aren't discussing this," Krad ordered, glowering palely at the rooftops below them.

They flew on for a minute more before Satoshi began to sense the faintest tremble in the angel's arms. They were very close to the apartment now, but even without their link, he could tell Krad was losing it.

"Krad, stop blocking me," Satoshi warned, "You're wasting energy. You'll burn out."

"Shut up," Krad said flatly as he pressed on. His arm muscles gave an unwilling shudder. "If you want to be useful, hold on," he ordered.

"To you? You have to be kidding." Part of Satoshi thought the angel was out of his mind, and part of him thought he understood exactly what Krad was doing. Whatever had happened with Midnight, it was clear that the angel's own body had become an enemy to him there. Krad was waging a war against the limits of the mortal form he'd waited so long to obtain.

Considering that he didn't have much choice in the matter, Satoshi freed his arms and wrapped them around the angel's neck. His ribs twisted painfully with the movement. Satoshi groaned into the angel's skin, but he held tight.

"Which one?" Krad demanded as they flew over Daisuke's home and proceeded west across the city.

"To the right. The one with the huge antennae on top." Satoshi tugged himself up closer to Krad's neck and breathed in the heat of his skin as he stared at the ground below them. There was something distinctly _male_ about the angel's scent. It was effortlessly alluring, strong. Satoshi deliberately twisted his chest to stop himself from thinking whatever came beyond that observation.

It was too late. The feeling had been there, if only for a moment. _Oh god... _The boy gritted his teeth and tried not to think at all. He had to be delirious.

Krad's expression tightened with concentration as he descended toward the roof Satoshi had indicated. He began losing altitude faster than ideal, and he might have missed the roof entirely and hit the side of the building if a solid thrust of his wings hadn't lifted them just high enough for a shaky landing on the edge of the brick-lined surface. Satoshi immediately let go of his neck and stumbled to put distance between himself and the blonde.

When he was beyond the angel's reach, he wheeled on Krad. "Bet you're pretty pleased with yourself," he snapped.

The angel looked white as a sheet. "I got us here," Krad murmured, shaking his head like he couldn't focus. "Didn't I?"

"Who said I wanted to be taken anywhere by you? You've got more than one screw loose. Next time you want to pull a stubborn, psychotic stunt like that,—"

He cut off when he noticed Krad's weight drifting backwards toward the edge of the building. The angel's eyes were glassy and dull. Satoshi had seen that look on Dark too many times that week to not know what it meant.

"Hey!" The boy launched forward and grabbed Krad by the arm, tugging him back toward safety before he could fall straight off the roof. The angel sagged forward against Satoshi's form. The boy staggered under the collapsing blonde's weight and then just stood there in shock.

Krad's labored breath brushed down the back of Satoshi's neck. "Damn," the angel muttered almost inaudibly. A penetrating sense of utter exhaustion swollen with pain splintered into the boy's mind as the Krad's carefully forged mental barriers crumbled apart. Satoshi recognized the sensation. He'd known it was coming. What he wasn't prepared for was the emotion that came behind it. He was used to Krad's anger, the hatred, the cold animosity. But this was different. He'd never, ever felt the angel so scared.

What had him so upset? Was it just the burnout?

There wasn't much time to theorize, because the angel's chaotic mind fell abruptly silent. Satoshi braced himself under the weight of the collapsing angel and listened as Krad's troubled breathing flattened out. The blonde's chin sank onto Satoshi's shoulder.

Wonderful. Now he had an unconscious supernatural being passed out in his arms. He seriously considered throwing the blonde back over the edge.

Instead, Satoshi crouched enough to hoist the angel up over his shoulder. He groaned at the added weight on his chest and turned very carefully toward the fire escape. Ever so slowly, he began making his way toward his level, cursing under his breath as he went.

**-oOooOOOooOo-**

"No, he's still not answering," Riku explained into the phone with a frown. She leaned on one crutch for support as she pulled the curtain sideways to look out on the street for the hundredth time that afternoon. She took a deep breath as she held her cell phone to her ear with the other hand, listening to her sister's worried voice. "Of course. The moment I hear something," she reassured. "Risa, if you want to, it's okay to call off the stakeout and come back here—" She broke off and listened for another moment. "I understand. Just don't overwork yourself. Worrying yourself sick won't get any of them back…Okay…I'm here if you need me…right…make sure you take shifts with Hattori so you can get some sleep…I will…I will. Later."

She sighed as she closed her phone and pushed it into her back pocket.

"Do you think they're okay?" Jirou asked her quietly. He was sitting on the couch with his good knee drawn up to his chest. His bad leg was spread out on the footrest with an ice pack wrapped around his injury. Riku had to hand it to the kid for being so stoic, but she knew he would probably be much better off with the medicine they could be giving him at the hospital. She pragmatically told herself that if Satoshi didn't come back, she would have to do something about the boy. _What if he didn't come back?_

"There's a good chance at least one of them is okay. The question is which one," she muttered in response to the boy's question. Maybe it was callous, but the kid had lost his chance for her sympathy when he first turned up worried about Krad. She just couldn't justify that, even in a naïve pipsqueak. Especially not when her friend could be in serious danger because of the angel. There was just no way to forgive Krad for the damage he'd done to their lives, especially to Satoshi's. With Daisuke and Satoshi both missing and her ankle broken, maybe she was growing jaded.

They both glanced tensely across the room as an urgent knock sounded at the door.

"No, don't move your leg," Riku ordered the boy as he began scrambling forward. She halted him with a firm palm and made her way rapidly to the door. "Who is it?" she called, leaning her ear close to the door.

"It's me," Satoshi's voice came through the doorframe. He sounded out of breath.

"Thank God!" Riku's face melted with relief and she undid the bolt and threw the door open.

And stared.

Satoshi followed her gaze tensely and waited while she took in the whole image, starting with the shirtless torso propped over his shoulder and ending with the massive white wings that hung wide behind him. Her brown eyes returned to his, bright with confusion.

Satoshi straightened as much as his blazing ribs would forgive and tried to catch his breath as Riku just stared and Jiro limped up behind her.

.

"I found him."

**-o0o0ooOOOoo0o0o-**

**To be continued.**

**-oOoOo-**

**Wooo you guys are awesome! So sorry for the long update time! That was a long time to leave poor Satoshi shot in the chest… The next few chapters will probably come out shorter and more frequently, rather than these huge epic chapters spaced months apart. **

**I was asked a while back to draw Krad's expression when he first realized what he was actually getting himself into with "Angel" at the sleazy hotel. I'll stick that up on maiysokat dot deviantart dot com. There's also a direct link on my profile here : ) Also! TheLurkerOnline awesomely sketched out his rendition of our friendly neighborhood veterinarian, so I'll stick a link in the profile for that as well!**

**Thank you guys so much for your reviews and feedback!!! I am completely flattered that people are enjoying it and I absolutely love hearing what you think! It is a wonderful guide for me as to what I'm doing right (and should therefore do more of) and also for what I should adjust for future chapters. I'm noticing a pattern that I get behind schedule and then can't do my shout outs the way I want, but I will try to come up with some other way to repay you guys for keeping me going! Perhaps suggestive fan art… I dunno, but something! **

**-Kat **


	27. Secrets and Lies

**Chapter 27: Secrets and Lies**

"Dr. Trap, what an unexpected pleasure," the cold voice came from the other end of the line.

"I have some questions," the scientist's voice spoke clearly.

"Yes, I understand we had a rather embarrassing incident last night. You must be confused."

Trap sat back in his chair and gazed thoughtfully at his computer monitor. He pressed the button in and out on his ball point pen. _Click-chk. Click-chk. _"You chose not to tell me the Black Wings was already here."

"Yes, do forgive us for that. There was no need for you to know."

"Shira was told," Trap pointed out, clicking the pen thoughtfully.

"For security reasons, Special Ops was informed. It made sense for Shira to know."

Trap set the pen down on his desk to type something on his keyboard while Gorudo spoke. "The objective of my research is to summon a being that is already here in our facility. Can you explain why I don't need to know?"

"There was a change of plans," the CEO said matter-of-factly. "An opportunity came, and we took it. I'm sure you can understand. I can explain some of the details, but it's rather boring, really."

"I don't require the details," the scientist said. "How does this affect my research?"

"The technology you've developed is still necessary, and the procedure will still take place tonight."

"I don't follow."

"I believe we should discuss this face to face. Come up to my office at noon, and we'll talk all about it," Gorudo said.

"Understood. And the boy?"

"Keep him secure. We'll still need his presence for the procedure. Other than that, we have no further use for him. I do hope you aren't too bogged down in work without Shira to assist you."

"The preparations are already complete. I'm sure she's more useful where she is now," Trap noted, picking up his pen again. _Click-chk._ "I'm just spending some time on the web," he mused, leaning in closer to his monitor as something caught his eye."

"Good. See you at noon, then."

"Noon," the scientist confirmed, setting the receiver down as he studied his screen. "Interesting," he murmured to himself.

**-o0o0OOO0o0o-**

Daisuke's eyes rose grimly to the lab door as the lock hissed open. The heavy door slid sideways to reveal Trap's familiar silhouette. The neuroscientist stepped into the room with solemn indifference, holding a clipboard under one arm and a pen in his opposite hand. His cool grey eyes met the boy's angry stare as he entered. When Daisuke didn't offer up the words that seemed to be gleaming in his red eyes, the scientist walked to the work area that was set up along the side of the room and began examining some papers that had printed out. He carried one sheet over to his glaring test subject and dropped it in the boy's lap.

"Know who that is?" the scientist asked flatly.

The boy snatched it up and stared at it for a long moment. It was a screenshot printed off of YouTube. It bore an image of a white-winged man with gold hair, his back to the camera, struggling to hold up a crumbling building above his head. The Niwa stared at the image like it was covered in dead insects. How could something like this exist? Was it someone's sick idea of a joke?

Daisuke took a deep breath and told himself it couldn't be real. "I don't know," he offered coldly.

"Really." Trap cast the boy a brief look before returning to his work. He examined the readings on one of the machines and took some notes on the clipboard, content to ignore his test subject.

"Dark is here." The boy's words echoed in the sterile room.

"He is," Trap acknowledged, continuing his task without much regard for the boy.

"You never told me he was here."

"I wasn't aware."

Daisuke went silent and studied his captor fiercely. "Why should I believe you?"

"You've given me all the data I require. I don't need you to believe me," Trap noted as he scribbled something down and then clicked his pen down and up again.

"All you require for what? You were supposed to use me to break his seal. That obviously isn't necessary, so what exactly is it that we've been doing here?" Daisuke growled. "What are you planning to do with _him_?"

"A little late to be asking things like that, isn't it?"

Daisuke's gut twisted. "When I agreed to cooperate with this insane thing, I thought anyplace was better for him than where he was. I thought he was trapped, sealed in with—" He broke off and his expression glazed over.

The scientist paused in his work long enough to look over at the boy idly. "Sealed in with what?" he probed.

"I won't do anything that's going to hurt him," Daisuke warned, ignoring the question.

"Your cooperation is no longer required, so you'll have very little choice."

Daisuke threw up his hands. "How am I supposed to trust you when you're hiding things from me?" he demanded.

"You are hiding things from me as well," Trap pointed out.

"I'm a hostage! I get to hide things! You're supposed to be my creepy yet bizarrely straightforward mad-scientist kidnapper who acts all cold and emotionless but actually tells the truth and decides to do the right thing at the last moment!"

Trap lifted his head from his papers and turned an expressionless gaze on the redhead, his gray eyes holding nothing but dull impatience. "This is life, not some comic book. I'm a scientist with research to perform. I'm the most qualified person to do this work, and I don't get emotionally entrenched in my projects. If you thought differently, that was your mistake."

"Trap…" the boy asked darkly. "Did you lie to me about Riku?"

The scientist frowned at the boy. "Yes." He showed no response to the spreading shock on the boy's face. He walked over to stand in front of Daisuke. "And you already know it. You saw her thrown from the cliff." Daisuke's eyes looked hollow as the scientist stared him down indifferently. "This is the last time I'll warn you: All of this is real. Stop humoring yourself."

The boy's furious gaze was like paper scratching at steel as Trap calmly turned and packed up the papers he'd come for. "We'll complete the procedure tonight, and your role here will be done," he said.

"What 'procedure?' He's here! …Trap! He's already here!" the boy growled as the scientist ignored him and made his way out of the room.

**-o0o0OOO0o0o-**

"Trap."

The scientist paused mid-step and turned to face the voice behind him. A female figure stood a few yards behind him in the long hallway, her hands planted on her hips.

"Who is guarding the Black Wings?" he asked her. There wasn't a shred of greeting in his tone.

Shira frowned and glanced at the wall. "I need to speak with you."

"Yes?" He raised his eyebrows at her.

She paused uncomfortably, picking out her words. "Were you just with the boy?"

"Yes."

"How is he?"

"He's secure."

She pulled her fingers through her fire-red hair. "You're still mad."

"I'm not mad. What did you need to ask?" he offered. He clicked his pen in and out as he observed her patiently.

"I couldn't tell you about the Black Wings. It was an order, and I only knew for a very short time," Shira whispered as she stepped closer to him.

"I know that," he said calmly. "You don't need to worry about it."

"I'm not! I was just following orders, for god's-sake!"

Trap's forehead knitted slightly. His cool grey eyes studied her like she was a Rubik's cube. "I know."

"Trap, we've been working together nonstop for the last week. We're not strangers anymore, so don't treat me like one," she pressed.

"I'm not. I said we could speak." He tilted his head slightly, the way he did when he saw something that didn't make sense. "But if that's everything, I need to get back to my office and do some work," he said.

"You're really not going to ask me? About the Black Wings?"

"Are you authorized to answer if I do?" Trap asked, resting his thumb on the button of his pen as he studied her.

"No…"

He blinked at her. "Then there's no need to talk about it."

"Maybe _I_ need to talk about it," Shira snapped impatiently.

"You can talk about it when they ask you to," Trap reaffirmed flatly.

"Damn it, Trap, quit being a stone wall!" she whispered to be sure no one else could overhear them, "I need help, here, and you're the only person I can go to. Whatever I'm guarding up there, it's not just some artifact."

"Yes, it is."

"You haven't spent time with it yet. It talks, and I swear to god it acts just like it has feelings."

"It's a piece of art. Its brain processes mimic ours. That's all," the scientist concluded flatly.

"Is that really what you believe?" Shira studied him uneasily. His expression gave her nothing. Was she making a huge mistake by going to him with this? "Trap, I need to know if that thing up there is alive or not. This isn't what I signed on for… After what happened with the girl… I can't do this again. I need to know what's happening here. Do you understand?" Her eyes begged him for a human response.

"Perform your job," he advised. "There's no room for confusion here. If your personal feelings are interfering, you'll be removed from the project."

"I'm only telling you, no one else," Shira shot back.

"And if your attitude threatens the project, I'll be forced to report it. Understand? Overcome your personal reaction and perform your job."

Shira narrowed her eyes on him uncertainly. "You're saying you seriously don't think something fishy is going on here? It's ok if it comes out all wrong, as long as you finish your research? Do you even know what we're supposed to be doing to the boy and that…thing tonight?" she demanded.

"Yes."

"You're lying."

"You're pushing over the line," Trap warned sternly. "Stop trying to make this personal."

"Alright, sugar. If this really isn't bothering you at all, then why are you doing that?"

"What?"

"That! You keep messing with your pen."

Trap glanced down at the pen he'd been clicking. "That's a fairly common habit," he noted condescendingly.

"You never did it before," Shira insisted.

"You're insulting me," Trap said, a glint of rare anger forming in his eyes. "Go back to your post and do your job."

Shira stared at him, trying hard to look mad and not hurt by his attitude. "What the hell's wrong with you?" she said scornfully as she turned her back on him and walked back the way she'd come.

"Shira," Trap called. She stopped and looked angrily over her shoulder. "Talk to anyone else about this, and I'll report you."

She clenched her fists at her sides and kept walking.

Trap watched her detachedly for several moments before turning to proceed toward his office.

_Click-chk._

_Click-chk._

_Click-chk._

**-o0o0OOO0o0o-**

He opened his lids to a pale white ceiling. Moving his eyes slowly to avoid provoking the ache looming behind them, he turned his gaze to the left. The room he was lying in was as nondescript as his memories of getting there. The blinds on the curtainless windows were drawn tight, but late-afternoon sunlight cut in from around them and cast shadows across the plain but clean room. The furniture was simple; practical. Next to the window were a desk and a bookcase. Perhaps it was just the vibe of waking up in a strange room, but the things on the shelves looked like exactly that: things. Arranged neatly on the horizontal space, nothing about them suggested that they were cherished, that they were someone's possessions. It made the space impersonal, almost like a movie set.

He stared at the window again, craving sunlight. His thoughts felt disconnected, like he'd slept for far too long. But he hadn't gone to sleep… at least not here.

The memories began as a trickle and quickly erupted into a flood. Krad held his breath stiffly as he sifted through everything that had happened – Midnight's torture, Satoshi's appearance, the car chase, the argument that followed, the flight, …the roof. He didn't remember anything after landing on the roof.

He noticed the softness of fabric under him for the first time, and twisted his head uncertainly. His gold eyes narrowed in confusion. A head of blue hair was resting face-down on pale, crossed arms on the edge of the mattress. The boy was sitting in a chair next to the bed, leaning forward onto the sheets. Krad shot up to a sitting position, his wings arching outward. The movement put little daggers through the backs of his eyes. A blue-gray sheet spilled down to pool around his waist. Fighting off panic, the angel looked down at himself. His wounded hand had been cleaned and bandaged. Except for the dizziness, he didn't feel drugged. How had the boy gotten him here? Why wasn't he restrained?

What a fool the Hikari was, to let his guard down and sleep there next to him. It would be so easy to kill him, he thought bitterly. How dare the boy think he'd do otherwise? How dare he condescend to him this way? None of this made sense. He looked down at his unbound hands and felt his world falling apart. It was a trick. The boy planned to trap him here by playing games with his mind. It wouldn't work.

He raised his good hand slowly and pulled one of his feathers loose. He pointed it at Satoshi in earnest. A bead of sweat rolled off his brow as he sat there in a deadlock with his thoughts. It would be so easy…yet he didn't follow through. He wanted to scream.

He grit his teeth in horror. He couldn't do it. Slowly, with near-painful deliberation, he dropped the feather. It fell to the bedsheet in front of Satoshi. Krad stared at the abandoned weapon. "No," he breathed, disgust building up within him. He needed Satoshi to do something… to piss him off so he could find his nerve. How dare he bring him here! Gold eyes flashed to the boy. "Wake up, now!" he snarled.

He grabbed Satoshi's hair and tugged his head roughly up to face him. A wash of startled pain jumped through Krad's mind as the boy snapped awake and stared at him with vivid blue eyes. Then the sensation blotted out, hidden behind Satoshi's shields.

Krad took a look at his face and fought a reflex to release his harsh grip on the boy. Satoshi was white as a sheet, and his skin glowed with sweat. "What am I doing here?" the angel heard himself demand.

Satoshi grimaced and stared the angel down. "If you don't let go, I might puke on you," he warned dizzily.

Krad slowly uncurled his fingers from the boy's hair and withdrew his hand. "What's wrong with you? You were okay before," he pressed. He sounded annoyed, but looking at the boy was knotting his stomach. This wasn't right. He needed to snap out of it, to do something so he could be himself again.

"Guess some things got worse," Satoshi muttered and tilted his head to a more comfortable position. His eyes flickered over the angel searchingly for an instant before returning to meet that golden stare. "How do you feel?" he asked without enthusiasm, straightening up very slowly while his ribs protested every inch of movement.

"Why did you bring me here?" the angel demanded again, ignoring his question.

"You passed out. Someone would have found you on the roof."

"I would have taken care of it," Krad said ominously.

"Oh, sorry. I should have just left you alone to kill any bystanders that happened upon your half-dead body." He gave a shallow laugh that sounded like it hurt.

Krad scowled distrustfully. He grabbed the boy by the front of his shirt and tugged him up out of his chair. "You cannot threaten me in your condition. I am not staying here," he hissed into Satoshi's face.

The boy managed not to groan at the sudden movement, though he looked delirious for a moment. "I know," he returned quietly. He made no move to fight, no sign of protest at the angel's treatment of him.

Krad glared at the boy. Satoshi's expression was locked down, pale. He looked miserable. The boy's non-confrontational attitude was making him nervous and, for reasons he couldn't pin down, angry. "Say something," the angel growled. "I know you shield the link between us. I know I'm hurting you, so open your damned mouth and say something!" Tightening his grip on Satoshi's shirt, he jerked the boy sideways as he climbed off the bed and walked him up against a wall. The movement made Satoshi wince, but he didn't fight back, which only seemed to heighten the angel's wrath. Krad leaned in toward him fiercely. "What do you think you're doing? Protecting me, you condescending brat?" he pressed.

"I won't let you feel this," Satoshi seethed, almost too hoarse to be understood. He grabbed onto the arm that was pinning him to the wall and pulled at it in vain. His blue eyes clouded. "I won't give you the satisfaction," he groaned.

"Satisfaction?" Krad demanded, pressing Satoshi harder into the wall. He couldn't explain why the boy's reticence was getting him so pissed off. Satoshi's breath broke apart into thin gasps, and still he was sheltering him, hiding from their link. It was maddening to be kept out. It made no sense. "Do not dare protect me!" Krad rasped.

The pain in Satoshi's expression was no longer hidden, but something crazed inside the angel refused to stop pushing him. He was trying to make the boy snap. He knew very well that he was doing it. But he couldn't control the impulse to get Satoshi to drop that blank wall of detachment.

That didn't mean he was prepared for what would happen when it worked.

The wing host's eyes flashed at him, colder than the angel had ever seen them. A barricade opened within his mind, bringing behind it an avalanche of sensations. Krad could feel the piercing sting of something broken and wrong inside his chest, crushed with some unseen vice. He felt dizzy and sickly chilled, like every pore on his body had broken into a cold sweat.

But more than anything, a rage so strong that it scalded his nerves poured through the link Satoshi had just thrown wide.

"_**Is this what you want, asshole?" **_a voice far stronger than Satoshi's physical body could muster right now boomed in the angel's head. The thought was wild, almost mad with hurt. _**"Feels good, doesn't it? Breaking me? Drives you wild, doing this to me. Is it out of your system? Need some more?"**_

The angel's eyes went wide as Satoshi suddenly reversed his efforts to repel the angel's oppressing arm and instead tugged Krad's fist harder into his chest. Pain exploded around both of them, drawing a grunt from Satoshi and a breathless gasp from the blonde. Satoshi glared at him wildly, pain-tears escaping down his cheeks as he stared the angel down. The boy was seriously ready to hurt himself.

"Satoshi-sama…stop," Krad gasped, tugging his arm out of the boy's grip. The pain abated with the release of pressure, but the anger didn't. There was much more going on there, behind all the anger, but understanding it was like looking through a sandstorm.

"_**I hate you. Selfish, arrogant monster, I hate you!" **_Satoshi's voice screamed through their link.

The blood drained from Krad's expression as he finally began to feel what lay behind that overwhelming wall of anger in the boy. He didn't know any word to describe this sense of helpless outrage, like something terribly secret and fragile was being ripped wide and touched, violated. The mood was disturbingly familiar to him. _Recently_ familiar.

_No. _Krad fought in panic for an explanation that would clarify why he wasn't the same as Midnight to the boy right now. Before he could find one, the door to Satoshi's mind slammed angrily in his face. He was left abruptly back in his own body and thoughts, and he was shaking.

Satoshi swallowed dryly as he looked away from the angel and focused on regaining his composure. He wrapped an arm loosely around his chest and leaned back against the wall to catch his breath. "God, I'm losing my mind," he murmured, sliding down the wall to sit on the ground. Never mind the fact that Krad was still standing in front of him. If the angel wanted to attack him now, he could. It didn't feel like his legs could hold him at the moment, anyway.

Krad stood glued in place. "Satoshi-sama…" he breathed.

"Don't do that to me again," the boy whispered. He dug both hands back into his blue hair and pressed his eyes shut. "Don't force me open. I'm not your punching bag."

"Fine. Fine…" Krad said uneasily, noting the frantic, shallow rise and fall of Satoshi's chest. The kid wasn't doing well. He'd known that before. In forcing him to open up, had he managed to hurt the boy worse? Why had he pressed the issue at all? Why did he feel this way now? "You're not breathing right," he noted.

Satoshi opened his eyes to cast the angel a frustrated look. "Give me a minute," he muttered.

Krad took a step back and waited briefly, monitoring the boy's condition. "Your lips are turning blue," the angel prodded.

"Are you going to attack me, or do you just plan to annoy me to death," Satoshi winced between thin gasps.

The blonde frowned and turned for the door.

"Don't go that way," Satoshi ordered hoarsely as the angel took hold of the knob.

The blonde paused for a moment, careful not to look back at his wing host. "I'm not going," he forced out quietly, "You need help."

Satoshi blinked and shook his head in disbelief. "No, Krad, I seriously meant, don't go that w-" he pressed, too late.

The angel pulled the door open and immediately froze. Five feet outside in Satoshi's living room, Riku Harada was standing watch in a chair facing the door. She was holding Satoshi's pistol trained directly on the angel's chest.

And she looked ready to use it.

"Don't. Move," she ordered coldly.

**-o0o0OOO0o0o-**

_TBC! _

_Happy fourth of July! Whew, finally got this wrapped up! I recently adopted a pair of sugar gliders who have been greedily hogging up my time, but at last, I'm able to write again! Thank you guys so much for the reviews and ideas – they really help me plan out where to focus on the coming chapters : ) Some of the questions are so tempting to answer, but eek spoilers! I will say that we'll be seeing our friendly neighborhood veterinarian very soon, and that Dark will be back in play next chapter : )_

_Also, another new piece of fan art is up in my profile. Just a picture of Krad waking up in the last scene of this chapter. Shirtlessness involved, mu ha ha._

_Please let me know what you think!_


	28. Bonds

**Part 28: Bonds**

"Don't. Move."

Wary gold eyes locked onto stern brown as the angel froze mid-stride in Satoshi's doorway. Krad shifted focus from Riku's glare to the cold weapon her hands held trained on his chest. Adrenaline. He straightened tensely.

"Go ahead and try something, Krad. Believe me, I'm in the mood to pull the trigger," Riku warned. Her voice didn't execute the words coldly enough to give them impact, but she didn't lower the gun, either. Her hair and clothes looked well worn, like she'd been sitting watch there all night. Her leg stretched out before her, the ankle wrapped in a cast. Something about that red hair…

"I know you," Krad observed, finding it hard to organize his thoughts as he stared with full attention at the girl and the gun.

"Riku Harada. You tried to kill me, once."

His eyes narrowed on her. "Right," he reminisced darkly. "That was fun."

"Where's Satoshi? I swear, Krad, if you've hurt him-"

"He's awake?" came a new voice from the angel's left. Krad shifted his gaze tensely from Riku's gun to take in a face he hadn't expected to see again. The boy was climbing up from the couch a few feet away, shaking off sleep and holding onto a crutch for support. He stared at Krad like one blink might leave him alone forever. The blonde had never seen anyone look at him like that before, so he just stared back.

"Jirou, stay where you are. Jirou!" Riku shouted as the boy burst into a stunted rush for the angel's side. He slipped on his crutch a few feet from Krad and staggered across the final distance between them, latching onto the angel's leg for balance.

Krad spread his arms away from the unexpected contact and took a half-step back.

"Jirou! Get away from him!" Riku pleaded, aiming leftward to be sure the boy wouldn't interfere with her shot if she took it.

The child just held onto Krad's pant leg firmly and pressed his forehead to the angel's hip. "I thought I'd never find you again…Krad," he spoke the name uncertainly into the fabric.

"Jirou, I'm not sure what you think you know about this guy, but he's tricking you," Riku warned, tightening her finger on the trigger.

"Don't shoot him!" the boy shouted, spinning to face her and stretching his arms wide to shield as much of the angel as he could. The position made him lean back against Krad for balance.

Krad's expression was a deadly warning as his eyes returned to the girl. "You had best hope you are an excellent shot." His body was reminding him that he wasn't much steadier on his feet than the boy was at the moment. Was that why he was thinking about Satoshi's furious words a minute ago instead of the barrel trained on his shoulder? Was his throbbing head keeping him from thinking right?

The gun trembled in Riku's grip as she realized she was losing control of this situation. The boy looked terrified, not of the winged monster he was shielding, but of her. "Jirou, I don't know what you think you know about him, but he's the bad guy, not me," she said. "What happened to Satoshi?" she demanded of Krad.

"He is alive," Krad said coldly. His jaw tensed. "He…requires a doctor."

Riku's eyes widened and her aim dipped slightly as she took in the sudden quietness of Krad's words. She stared at him, but the angel wasn't quite meeting her eyes. Then the anger began soaking back in. "What did you do to him?"

"It would be a great deal of work to describe it. Perhaps you would settle for a demonstration?" Krad said half-heartedly. His wings arched upward in a warning.

"Jirou, get away from him!" Riku almost screamed, her aim wavering furiously.

The angel cursed to himself. The girl would almost certainly miss if she fired. She would probably hit something non-vital….or hit the boy. He stood a decent chance of ripping her apart before she could get off a second shot. _And then what? _He was beginning to hate that question.

"Krad…what's happening?" Satoshi's strained voice came from the room behind him.

The blonde looked over his shoulder. Satoshi was still sitting on the floor against the wall to his right, leaning forward over his knees for support. His crystal blue eyes were looking up at Krad from a pale face. There were questions in the boy's expression that he seemed too physically hurt to ask. With a deep breath, Krad turned and walked back toward Satoshi without regard for the girl or the gun. Jiro let go of his clothes as the angel stepped away.

Riku stared in disbelief, still holding the trigger over a perfectly clear shot, but she couldn't make herself fire.

Jirou looked at Riku for a second, assessing the risk, then turned and hopped after Krad.

"I'm holding a gun, for god's sake!" Riku wailed to an empty room. She set the weapon down in exasperation, needing two hands to collect her crutches and follow after them.

As Krad approached, Satoshi was struggling back to his feet, one arm wrapped tensely around his ribcage.

"Your hitman does not have much nerve for the kill," the angel pointed out to his former wing host.

Emotions flashed in sapphire eyes. "Krad, I gave her the gun for her own protection. I was supposed to be the first one to walk into that room." The eyes lost focus as he began walking toward the door. "Just get out. No one's trapping you. I'll check.. on…"

The Hikari tottered off balance and fell forward. Krad's eyes shot wide.

The angel dodged in front of the younger man and caught him under the shoulders, drawing him back upright. Satoshi glanced up at his winged counterpart wearily. Neither man said a word. The two stood chest to chest and breathed into the same space in tense silence.

Meanwhile, Riku finally made her way into the room on her crutches to a thin flurry of feathers. She came up behind Jirou and stared. "What are you doing?" she murmured, a blush creeping into her cheeks.

"Call a doctor," Krad ordered, standing very still. He'd expected Satoshi to push back once he regained his balance, but instead, he actually felt some tension _leave_ the boy's shoulders.

"I'm fine," Satoshi breathed.

Riku stared at them, unable to make heads or tails of the situation. For Satoshi to be standing there peacefully in Krad's arms…clearly something was going on beyond her understanding. And though she didn't want to agree with the angel, Satoshi didn't look good. He'd said little about his injuries the night before. Had they just gotten worse overnight, or had Krad done this to him? "I could call Risa and Dr. Hattori in the van…"

"He's not coming near me," Satoshi said quickly.

"Call," Krad said with quiet authority.

Riku studied Krad's expression, completely baffled as to whether she should trust him alone with her friend. She finally reached down into her pocket and pulled out her phone. Satoshi didn't argue further as she crutched her way out of the room to somehow explain this situation to her sister and the vet.

"Jirou," Krad addressed the boy standing protectively nearby him. The child stared at him blankly, amazed he'd been called by name. Krad looked him over, scanning the bandages on his leg where he'd been injured at the school. Images from that fight flooded his head. He took a deep breath. "Sit down," he directed with a sigh.

Jirou dropped to the floor in stunned obedience and watched as the angel knelt slowly with Satoshi. He moved gracefully, as if he were handling a glass statue. Krad spread his wings for balance as he eased the wing host down onto the carpet.

Satoshi cooperated with the movement, really not feeling well enough to do otherwise. When he was lying fully on his back, Krad withdrew his hands and moved a few steps away to sit down on Satoshi's bed.

His former wing host's eyes followed him. Exhausted. Anxious. "Krad, I-"

"Shut up. Lie still." The angel kneaded his forehead between his thumb and forefinger in tense frustration. When he lowered his hand a few moments later, the boy's eyes were mercifully closed.

"Krad…are you okay?" Jirou asked him shyly from his place on the floor.

"Who gave you permission to call me by name?" Ice in that voice.

Jirou cringed. "Satoshi calls you Krad."

"What do you know about Satoshi?"

"Nothing…I just met him."

"Then don't compare yourself with him."

Jirou gave a small nod, accepting the snub. On some level, he could tell there was something important between the angel and Satoshi, though he couldn't imagine exactly what it was. One minute they spoke of one other as enemies or monsters, the next they were in each other's arms. He looked at the still, blue-haired form Krad had laid so carefully on the floor. "…Do you think he'll be okay?"

_Depends on one's definition of okay. _Satoshi's angry, panicked words from earlier played back in the angel's memory. "No talking," Krad dismissed him.

Jirou thought about arguing, but something in Krad's distant amber eyes stopped him. He hadn't seen the angel like this before. Was he upset? Whatever was going on with the strange being, this didn't seem like a good time to ask questions. He flopped back on the carpet and relaxed his hurt leg.

Krad observed the finally-quiet room and leaned forward on his knees. He wove his fingers together across the back of his neck and stared down at the carpet. How in the world had he ended end up watching over a room full of injured humans? The only thing taming back his chaotic thoughts was his persistent dizziness. His body felt like garbage, and thinking about his fight with Satoshi earlier made him so lost that passing out again was almost tempting. He pressed his eyes shut and folded his wings close to his bare back.

It was about five blissfully quiet minutes later when Riku made her way back into the room. She looked around at the three silent males. Satoshi looked unconscious, Jirou looked resigned, and Krad looked….

"Our…doctor friend is coming," she said cautiously to the inattentive angel. Krad nodded without looking up at her. It was hard to make out his expression through the silk curtain of golden hair. "Is Satoshi..?"

"Asleep," Krad's low voice was smooth as polished stone.

Riku watched him, weighing whether or not to move any closer to him. What was she supposed to make of this monster sitting peacefully in her friend's bedroom?

"Satoshi said that you saved his life. I don't really believe him," she said.

"You should not. Why would I do such a thing?" Krad scoffed half-heartedly, his fingers tightening around the back of his neck. He wanted them all to go away. So why didn't he just leave this place? Why was he too tired to fight with them?

Riku narrowed her eyes. Something wasn't right about him. Just as Dark had been missing that spark of energy in his movements when he was injured, Krad's usual cold elegance seemed dulled. She wasn't about to grow concerned about the angel, but if he was going to stay here, she didn't see much point in letting him ignore his body, either. Men were so stubborn, supernatural or not.

She took a few slow, wary steps toward him, just close enough to reach him with her arm fully extended. She noticed gold eyes flicker up to study her movements critically. She frowned and gave him a warning look as she lifted her hand out to him. As if reaching out to pet a crocodile, her palm navigated past his long stray bangs and touched very lightly against his forehead.

Krad jerked back a few inches at the contact. Riku paused for a second, letting him pull away, then held her breath and touched him again, laying her fingers across his skin. She could feel a cool static radiate from his body, defending against the intrusion. The power raised the hairs on her arms, stretching across her skin, but it didn't grow to more than that. She felt it test her and then pass her over, sparing her the bite that lay behind it. Maybe the angel just didn't have the energy to attack her. He'd been unconscious when Satoshi brought him in, after all. Other than that, his skin felt cold, a startling contrast with the warmth of her nervous hand.

She pulled her arm back as quickly as she could without seeming scared. Krad raised his head enough to study her reaction.

"What do you need from me for…this?" she asked him quietly, brushing the hairs back down on her arms.

Krad straightened up tensely, wanting badly for his exhaustion to not be noticed, but it was too late.

When he couldn't bring himself to answer her, Riku sighed and left the room. She reappeared a few moments later with a large bottle of Gatorade. "You're ice cold…It's an energy drain, right? The same as Satoshi used to have, after…?" _After you. _

Riku saw surprise in the angel's eyes. "Satoshi told Daisuke about them, and Daisuke told me. I hear they're pretty agonizing." There was more accusation than sympathy in her voice. "We have a lot of this lying around lately. I suppose we could use some of it for this," she muttered, handing the bottle to him.

Krad looked down at the beverage and then back at her blankly. His hunger had long since evolved into a nauseating ache, but seeing the drink in front of him now brought back the awareness of how desperate his body was for strength. He unscrewed the Gatorade, glanced back at Riku, and then downed most of the bottle in unrestrained swallows. When he finally stopped to breathe, his throat ached with cold.

"Good?" Riku asked him in astonishment. She hadn't expected him to accept the drink. Maybe she'd underestimated how weak he was? Maybe feeding him was a deadly mistake.

Krad looked back at her, unable to mask his relief. "Yes," he admitted, raising the bottle back to his lips to finish it off.

"That works out well. It was taking up the fridge," Riku remarked with a suspicious grin. "Dark doesn't like that flavor."

The angel abruptly choked on the drink and yanked the bottle away from his mouth at the reminder of his counterpart. He glared at the smirking girl, coughing too hard to throttle her, which only made her smile wider.

Even Jirou began cautiously giggling at his reaction. Krad rolled his eyes. These same people had taken care of Dark. Satoshi had protected their sworn enemy in this exact room. If he looked hard enough, would he find black feathers behind the furniture? His stomach wanted to reject what he'd swallowed, but his brain ordered it to hold it down.

Riku pulled aside the chair Satoshi had been sitting in earlier, moved it a safe distance from Krad, and sat down in it, resting her legs. The silence in the room was monumentally awkward. "Why exactly do you hate Dark so much, anyway? Aren't you two parts of a whole? Doesn't that kind of make you brothers?" she asked him.

Krad grimaced, but didn't respond.

The faintest stir of empathy shifted in her chest. As cruel and thoughtless as he was, something seemed off about the angel. She'd never interacted with Krad in close quarters this way before, and all she could put her finger on was that something about him was different from her expectations. Why was he here? Did he care about Satoshi? Or was anger the only kind of relationship he understood? Did Satoshi see something in the angel that she didn't? Was that why he protected Krad when he brought him here? She couldn't think of anything Krad could possibly say that would justify all the horrible things he'd done.

"What would have become of the Black Wings, if the Niwas hadn't interfered by stealing it?" she asked him quietly. For the first time, she genuinely wanted to know what was driving this strange being. Were his actions were guided by some kind of logic or just motiveless cruelty?

"It would have been animated successfully," Krad surprised her by answering. "A single, immortal, perfect being with a complete soul and an independent form."

Riku blinked. Something about his words tightened her stomach. "And that being…would it have been you? Or Dark?"

"What do you think?" Krad smirked ominously.

"You're the Hikari, so probably…you," she said. Her eyes went back to the blonde's. Krad seemed to approve of her answer. "Oh…" She felt suddenly cold in the warm room. The logic clicked. Something important seemed missing from the argument, but it occurred to her she might be able to understand Krad's viewpoint about Dark, just a little. Maybe to Krad, Dark had stolen a whole lot more than just some artwork. A chance to be alive. Whole. Free. Powerful. Instead, the Niwas had redirected half of that power. "So he's kind of a moocher, then," she pondered, trying to follow what Krad might be thinking.

The angel threw his head back and laughed – a deep, cool bronze sound with a silhouette of silver. It was a surprisingly pleasant laugh, even if it sounded a bit out of practice. It left both Jirou and Riku staring at him in perplexed amazement.

"Does he usually do that with you?" Riku asked Jirou blankly.

"No! With you?" the boy grinned.

Krad's expression reverted to an indignant glare at the humans' teasing. He gestured to the door to the sitting room. "Who is in there?"

"No one. We're all in here," Riku chuckled.

"Good," the angel said, standing up and walking past her into the living room. His eyes scanned the room and found one chair that he recognized from the boy's old living quarters. He was about to sit down in it when the doorbell rang.

The angel glowered at the door, having had about all the human interaction he could tolerate for one day.

"I'll get it!" Jirou exclaimed from the other room.

"Sit still!" Krad snapped at the same time that Riku warned, "Don't move your leg, honey." The girl came out of the bedroom on her crutches. She and the angel glanced at each other oddly.

"Just…stay over there," she murmured to him as she moved to get the door.

The moment she pulled the door open, a man wearing a long white coat and flattened oval glasses strolled in around her.

"So, where is he?" Hattori asked enthusiastically. His green eyes scanned the room and latched onto the blonde angel glowering at him from next to Satoshi's armchair. "Ooh, shiny," the vet smirked, making a B-line for Krad.

"Whoah!" Riku gasped, grabbing onto the vet's sleeve and hauling him toward Satoshi's room. "Satoshi's in here," she insisted against the mad-scientist glint in Hattori's eyes.

"Now now, I think I deserve at least a good look at the guy. After all, this one's _intact_," Hattori argued, planting his feet. With her crutches, Riku had no leverage to resist as the vet redirected back toward the angel. She looked across the room, and one glance at the angel's expression made her want to shove the vet back out the door. "Dr. Hattori!" she grabbed his sleeve like it was the last thing on earth.

Hattori brushed past her. Oblivious to the deadly glow in the angel's eyes, he leaned around the blonde to study the long, flawless wings extending from his bare back. "Impressive." He looked like he might want to stare at them for a few more hours, ideally with a dissection knife.

Krad folded his wings taut against his back, drawing a disappointed stare from the vet. His eyes glowed with power that most certainly would not be restrained any more if this strange human touched him.

"Hattori, you're not here for that. There's nothing wrong with him." Riku pleaded. She didn't know why Krad was being so reserved. Still, despite appearances, if Hattori pushed the white angel to the edge of that temper of his, none of them would be safe. That she knew absolutely.

The vet leaned back and sized up the angel. "Sweating. Dilated eyes. Bad mood. I'd be willing to guess dehydration, malnourishment." He glanced to the bandage covering Krad's shredded hand and added, "Anemia."

Krad didn't seem amused by the diagnosis. "You're the doctor?" Riku could have sworn the room grew a few degrees colder with his voice.

"Oh, I'm no doctor." Hattori ignored the desperate gesticulations of Riku's arms making the age-old signal for _'Shut up!'_ as he proceeded, "I'm a vet."

Cold bronze eyes returned those words with a slow stare. "What?"

The question was one part confusion, but it also held a caress of something darker, a promise of the capacity for indiscriminate evil. Hattori took in the angel's tone and paused, for once, to choose his words. Riku gripped her crutches until her knuckles went white.

"Kind of a crazy sonuvagun, aren't you?" the vet observed. "But at least you're pretty." So much for tact.

The angel's glare darkened. Fine frost formed in the corners of the windows behind them.

Hattori's expression was speculative as he watched the ice crystals web across the glass. "He'll be useful in the summer," he observed scientifically.

Riku strongly considered passing out. "Krad, he knows what he's doing," she coaxed the Hikari, having no idea if he'd listen to her. "He was able to help Dark."

The reminder of his rival was poor medicine for Krad's mood at the moment, but it did take some of his focus off the vet.

Hattori glanced innocently from the angel's unforgiving glare to the girl. She jerked her head strictly in the direction of Satoshi's room.

The vet rolled his eyes and turned toward the bedroom. "I close my practice for eight damn days, and now that you finally have one that can fly properly, you won't let me play with him," he accused as he made his way into the other room.

Riku took a deep breath as she realized she was alone with Krad. The room still felt like a fridge, but the murderous glint had faded from Krad's expression, for now.

That didn't make her any less terrified of being near him at the moment, but someone had to do it, and there weren't any other volunteers.

"Krad, Dr. Hattori is-"

"An imbecile," Krad remarked.

"Despite his attitude, he knows what he's doing. He'll do a good job."

Krad bristled. "It is none of my concern."

She knew better than to argue that point, but it was hard not to ask why he was still here, if not to ensure Satoshi's safety. Maybe there was something he needed that only Satoshi would be able to get for him. Had they struck some kind of a bargain before arriving in such terrible condition last night?

The room grew quiet enough for her to hear her stomach knotting while the vet addressed Satoshi in flippant tones next door.

Riku glanced at Krad, who was standing still, as if waiting for a cue to release the frozen rage that was chilling the room. She shivered and longed for a way to defuse the bomb ticking there next to her.

Satoshi and Hattori's voices muffled in through the wall, and Krad's temper slowly eased off until the air felt nearly normal.

A sharp groan came from the next room. Satoshi's voice. Krad's posture stiffened.

"_Lightly!"_ the boy growled loud enough for them both to hear.

"_I can't tell if they're broken without touching them," _Hattori challenged.

Riku tried to tell by Krad's expression what was going on inside his head. No dice, but she gave herself an A for effort and bonus points for not running out of the apartment screaming.

A soft grunt from next door. A sharp catch of breath.

"_This one's broken too, and as for these,—"_

A choked-off cry, sick with pain, jerked through the wall.

She didn't even see him move, but she felt the soft cold of feathers brushing her arm. By the time she realized he was no longer where he'd been, the door to the bedroom was already crashing open.

Satoshi had managed to maneuver out of the sweatshirt and was sitting up against the side of his bed. Hattori was kneeling, his hands cupped around his patient's left side when the angel burst in. He and Jirou both shuddered as cold anger swept the room like a winter wind.

"Krad," Satoshi started hoarsely, but it was too late.

The vet didn't even know what hit him as magic blew him off his feet and sent him flying across the room. He came to an indelicate stop against the bookshelf, bringing an unloaded picture frame down on his head.

"The hell was that for!" Hattori snapped at the angel as the room finally settled back into place.

Krad just raised his hand and gathered a bulb of scalding-white energy.

"Krad! Don't kill him," Satoshi ordered as the angel prepared to release the blow.

"_Kill_ me?" The vet raised his eyebrows at Satoshi. "I don't like these new friends you're hanging out with, Satoshi. There are so many nice boys your own age at school, have you tried talking to any of them?"

Satoshi looked exasperated. "Shut up. And Krad, put that thing out, now. I can kill him myself."

Only because that sounded like an earnest promise, Krad lowered his hand.

"I'm feeling a little underappreciated here," Hattori noted as he righted himself and made his way back to Satoshi.

"Just finish what you were doing. Everyone else, don't move." The blue-haired boy took a slow breath and gathered his nerve for Hattori's touch.

Krad stood very still in the doorway as the vet resumed his exam. Hattori peered back at him suspiciously. His fingers touched lightly against the younger man's ribs.

Satoshi looked over at his former angel and held Krad's gaze. He didn't understand what he was seeing in his counterpart's face. Every time Hattori's fingers found a new fracture, something would flash in those amber eyes, but Krad didn't move. It was hard to tell if he was angry, worried, or amused by the situation.

"Only two broken. The rest are just bruised." Hattori dug into his travel bag and pulled out a plastic bottle of pills. "Normally for dogs, but it'll do the trick." He popped a capsule out on his hand and handed it to Satoshi. The boy just grimaced and swallowed it dry.

"That'll take down the swelling so you can breathe and knock off some of the pain. Beyond that, there's not much to do for ribs except wait to them to heal. What the heck did you do to yourself? Get shot?" he scoffed.

"Yeah." He did his best to ignore the skeptical stare Hattori was giving him.

He should have known the nutcase wouldn't leave it alone. "How exactly did you manage to get yourself shot?"

"Just lucky, I suppose," Satoshi's expression flattened. He really didn't want them to know the details.

"Jokes aside, kid, who shot you?" Hattori pressed. His eyes took on a cooler, harder look than Satoshi was used to from the man.

"A goon working for a woman named Midnight."

"Midnight? Why would she be interested in you? No offense, but from what I've heard, you're not her type. If anything, this guy over here…" He froze as his eyes crossed to Krad and found something deeply unsettling about the angel's expression.

"No way," he murmured.

"What are you talking about?" Riku demanded. "Who's Midnight?"

"We're done talking about it," Satoshi said. "The situation has been handled."

"Oh, I think we should talk about it some more," Hattori smirked teasingly.

Satoshi glared at him. "Why do you even know about her, Hattori? She keeps a very low profile. Or are there some hobbies you'd like to tell us about? I didn't think vets got paid that much, but one never knows," Satoshi's teasing voice was also low with warning.

"Were you in some kind of trouble…Master?" Jirou carefully poked into the conversation he barely understood.

"Nothing beyond my capacity to handle." Krad looked unusually uncomfortable, and not in a humorous way.

"So getting Satoshi wounded was just a fun side trip, then?" Riku was many things when she was mad, but cautious wasn't one of them.

Satoshi braced himself in case he needed to protect Riku from his other half.

Krad didn't move. He didn't even look angry. "Of course," he forced himself to sound pleased. The words seemed to dry his whole mouth and suck the air from his lungs, leaving him unable to speak any further, but he didn't need to.

The air hung in silence as hostility mounted, this time directed at Krad.

"You might want to go in the other room for a bit, pal," Hattori said, all humor gone from his voice.

Krad scanned the angry faces in the room for a moment. Satoshi didn't look at him. He turned away from them indifferently and left the room.

A soft creak behind him and the tap of crutches on the hardwood let him know he'd been followed. The door shut quietly.

"Why did you lie?"

Krad took a deep breath through his nose. "Go back in with them."

"Tell me first."

The kid was getting a little too confident in himself. "I spoke the truth."

"You didn't hurt him for fun. He's important to you. I can tell."

Krad snarled. "He is my enemy."

"If you keep saying things like that to him, he'll believe you."

"I know," the angel whispered as he walked away from the door.

"I don't understand!" the boy's forehead knitted in confusion. "I know you're not like us, and maybe these things work different for your kind, but… Aren't you hurting yourself?

Krad glanced back at the boy. Jirou looked worried, not about Satoshi or about his own needs. Explicitly for him. How did one react to such a thing? If there had been even a shred of need or pity in those young eyes, Krad would certainly have lashed out at him. But Jirou was looking at him as only a child could. Unjudging. Concerned.

The angel turned his attention across the room, away from that look. "I am not ready."

His cautious voice held a warning that if these words were ever shared, such a confidence would never be offered again.

The words only brought on more questions, but even Jirou could tell there was a kind of sacrifice in Krad's confession. Of what, he could barely begin to guess, but it was important.

And, probably, in some way he couldn't comprehend, it was progress.

**~o0o0~OOO~0o0o~**

**To be continued!**

**Sorry I didn't get to Dark again, I swear he's next! I already started writing it! Really! At least Krad got to meet his wonderful vet. I always seem to need more room to write each part than I think I will. Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you think : )**

**Shout outs!**

**First off, you guys are totally awesome.**

**Raven Black – Thank you for your review! I try to keep things twisty!**

**Kathy Ann – I'm so happy you liked the art! Scenery is tricky. I wonder how often what a reader pictures is actually what the author saw when writing? Imagination is fascinating that way. As long as the mood is the same! Thank you for reading!**

**Intelligenceisstupid – Oh my god! One sitting! I am flattered and impressed!**

**RosalieCullenHale1 – Don't die! Who will leave me awesome reviews as pep talks?**

**D. Fan – Thank you for reviewing! I'll get into the action again next chapter : )**

**Fireflower19 – I love your reviews! They're so detailed! I'll explain Daisuke very soon! So far no R-rated violence between Krad and the vet…I wonder how long that will hold? And I love the way you write emotions! You just tend to gravitate more toward humor, because you're awesome at it, but every now and then the emotions come out in a huge sneak attack and WHAM. My style is just the reverse! Humor doesn't come to me when I try it. If it comes out, it's when I least expect it!**

**Natsuki376 – Thank you so much for reading at 3 in the morning! There is plenty of Satoshi/Krad in store ; ) I really appreciate your review!**

**Sapphiet – Yup, Riku plus guns equals craziness. Crisis averted for now! Thank you very much for reading and commenting!**

**Stormshadow13 – Your observations really help me know I'm on the right track with the mood I'm trying to build! They are extremely useful. *withholds spoilers* Thanks so much for sharing them, and as always for taking the time to read!**

**Bansheegrrl – Thanks for reviewing! Whoops, I kinda took a long time to update again. D'oh! I have a head start on the next chapter though! **

**Until next time!**


	29. Facade

**Part 29: Facade**

Shira threw one last splash of cold water onto her face and stared at herself in the mirror. "Shit," she muttered, wrenching off the faucet. She'd only been working with Trap for nine days. In that time, they'd been strictly colleagues. Their relationship had been fractious, at best. The scientist had never deviated from his detached hard-ass reputation, and she's probably been even more fiery and competitive than normal toward him. She had no reason to expect friendship from him, no reason to be disappointed or surprised by his threat to report her if she said something that threatened his precious research.

So why was she here, staring at her puff-eyed reflection in the 12th floor bathroom mirror, when she needed to be doing her job?

She took a deep breath and ignored the adrenaline pounding through her. She needed to get back. She grabbed a paper towel and made one last swipe at her eyes before swinging the door wide and stepping back into reality. Her boots thudded harshly across the polished hallway tile as she made her way toward the Black Wings' cell. After that impossible conversation with Trap, the last thing she wanted to do was return to her post and deal with that violet-haired freak. The angel she was expected to guard had already proven himself to be nosy and arrogant, not to mention more than capable of outsmarting the security system with which she was supposedly confining him to his cell. If not for those quick moments of human seriousnesss that he displayed, she would be more than willing to believe he was just a very clever, very narcissistic A.I. But something about that explanation rubbed all her intuition the wrong way.

Why was Trap acting so damn sure what they were dealing with wasn't really alive? Even after she'd told him about the girl she'd killed in cold blood…told him what that had done to her….how could he brush her off so casually when she went to him for help? Sure, she could have told him about Dark sooner… but was he really holding a grudge over one little, albeit important, piece of withheld information? And why did it suddenly bother her so much. She was only following orders. Her stomach clenched, trying to send the emotion up into her chest. A tense breath fought off the wave of feeling before it could settle there. She slammed open the door to the control room outside Dark's cell, only to find the three men assigned to assist her pacing around the room like nervous insects.

One of the men looked over as she entered. "Ms. Shira," he addressed her with a wary salute, "We've been waiting for your return. The captive….he's been missing for half an hour." He gestured toward the split screen on the wall that offered live camera of the empty cell from three different angles. "As you ordered, we haven't opened the door…" His voice held barely concealed disapproval, forced obedience.

Shira rolled her eyes and shoved through the group of men. She typed a passcode into the computer next to the door and it slid open. Preparing to be frustrated, she marched into the room.

"What the hell are you doing now?" she demanded of her prisoner.

Dark was hanging upside down by his knees from a beam between two ceiling tiles he'd dislodged.

"I'm hanging upside-"

"I can _see_ that you're upside down," Shira groaned. "_Why_ are you upside down."

"I was messing with your men," the angel smiled.

"That's an obnoxiously straightforward answer," she cast an impatient signal to her sheepish team to shut the door behind her. "But what else should I expect from a robot."

"I prefer the term, 'Glorious work of art'," Dark grinned. It was an easy, natural smile. Like he'd been made to smile that way. How could he have so much energy, when she felt ready to drop? She was certain neither of them had any sleep that night, mostly because she'd been watching him the whole time.

"Keep dreaming," Shira sighed, thunking down into her chair in the corner and training her loaded gun on the angel. She was getting a little too used to this routine.

"What's wrong?" Dark cocked his head slightly, his hair swinging toward the floor in violet wisps. His tone had changed, and he was now studying her with concerned violet eyes.

"Will you get down! Why do you think something's wrong?"

Dark obliged her, grabbing the ceiling beam with one muscled arm and swinging his legs back to the ground. He dropped to his feet and stepped toward her.

"Don't get any ideas just because you found a blind spot in our security system." Her finger tightened on the trigger.

Dark nodded flexibly and turned to sit on the unused cot across the room. Shira had the unwanted impression that he did it more for her comfort than because he acknowledged her threat.

"Did something happen?" he asked her again.

Damn it, she'd washed her face! Was it that obvious? "What were you really doing in the ceiling?" she demanded tartly. She wasn't about to open up to the alien being she was guarding, as disturbingly observant as he might be.

Dark sat back against the wall and crossed his arms, evaluating her. Whatever he was thinking, it ended in a decisive grin. "I was learning the building via the ventilation system."

Shira grimaced impatiently. "Don't insult me. You'd be covered in soot if you'd been climbing around the air shafts."

He waved his hand dismissively. "Not _in_ the ducts. Why do people think that works? Noisy, messy, and worst of all, _obvious._ Ducts are for short distances only. There's plenty of space in the walls. Especially in a building like this."

Shira kept the gun on him. "You're making things up to piss me off."

Dark smirked. "I'll share my notes. The building is thirty floors tall. Two central elevator shafts and four stairwells. Ventilation is hooked up to independent recycled air systems per each three floors, except for the twelfth, which is equipped with its own variable air volume system. An expense that was probably taken to vent the laboratories safely. The place is well guarded. Top of the line, really," the angel observed generously. "Cameras, laser trip lines, computerized locks. All connected to a massive central system. Except for two zones." He watched her closely. "The West face of the building, and Level Twelve. Those zones are on a separate network wired to a control room on the top floor. Apparently, there are some things here that Gorudo doesn't even want his own security to know about."

Shira's gaze darkened as she realized he was serious. She'd been gone just a half hour, and he'd actually scouted the layout of the whole building. _And then come back to his cell._ "You're trying to make a fool of me," she growled. _What the hell was he?_

"I'm trying to understand you," he corrected.

"You don't need to understand me. I'm not here to be psychoanalyzed by some A.I. freak! I'm here to keep you inside this cell."

"And you're doing a spectacular job," Dark praised. He graciously withheld a smile.

She rolled her eyes. "You think you're pretty clever, don't you?"

"Yeah, I sort of do," the angel replied smugly.

"Alright, Sherlock," she growled. "If you're so damn bright, then you tell _me_ what's bothering me."

"_Are you sure?_"

That more-than-artwork gaze thrilled and confused her. She wanted to think it was beautiful, but she was too busy reminding herself that it was dangerous. She didn't speak, because she didn't have an answer.

"Alright," he said thoughtfully. Dark stood up and walked slowly across the room, ideas swimming behind his violet eyes as he paced. "First there's your boss. The separate security platform isolated from the rest of the premises tells me he has secrets he likes to keep tightly. But there are also cameras and high-tech gizmos throughout the rest of the building, far beyond ordinary for a corporate office. That tells me two things. I know he has things to hide, and I know he's paranoid. Possibly obsessive?

"And then there's you." He paused and glanced at Shira before pacing on. "Since you had access to Level Twelve when you helped me in the elevator, I'd wager your job is related to projects that fall under the higher security category. But you're not holding that gun like a guard. You're holding it like a soldier. You move, stand, and talk like a soldier. You're trained for far more than a security role. My guess is that you're part of an elite security force. You deal with high-level threats to the premises, but you also handle any dirty laundry Gorudo doesn't want flapping around in the public eye.

"Being as paranoid as he is, Gorudo would want to keep me under wraps except to the smallest group possible, even among your special forces. You clearly have knowledge of me, and since you're one of only a small group would have been let in on this matter, that leaves a fairly high probability," he leveled her with a stare, "that you were also involved in kidnapping Daisuke."

Shira stiffened angrily and looked ready to interrupt him, but the angel just proceeded.

"You're new to the team. You're still fighting to assert authority over the men outside. I can see it in their eyes: They're surprised you're in charge. You probably haven't had an assignment like this before, and it's putting you on edge.

"But there's more than that," he said, stopping and turning toward her, those alien eyes looking right through her. "You're spooked, yes, but you're a tough woman. A little skepticism wouldn't be enough to leave you with red-rimmed eyes and the makeup rubbed away around your lashes and nose. If anything, this assignment should be like a promotion to an ambitious woman like you."

He paused to gauge her reaction. Shira had stopped looking angry, despite herself. She was surprised. She was listening.

"Last night, when they were taking me away, you had an argument with a man called Trap."

"You were unconscious," she protested.

"I _looked_ unconscious. It was just a taser. How weak do you think I am?" Dark muttered indignantly. "Trap is a neuroscientist here, based on my conversation with Daisuke. Normally, no reason at all for him to be acquainted with soldier-grade security staff. But you spoke as if you knew each other. Coworkers, then. For whatever reason, you were put together on this particular project as equals. After seeing me, he ordered you back to guard duty - an important role suited to your strengths and your purpose in the company, but a menial task. A rejection, coming from a scientist."

"This morning, you left your team to watch me at exactly 8:30. Trap's starting time, I would guess. You come back half an hour later, upset and snippy. Possibly an argument about work. Probably more than that."

"Okay, that's enough," Shira growled. Dark stopped and regarded her curiously. She glanced to the left and said nothing.

"I can stop."

"…Just finish your little theory."

The angel studied her for a few seconds. "It's not the change of duties that bothers you. You look like you'd rather be cleaning toilets than working in a lab. It's personal, then. Daisuke's been missing for nine days. Enough time to develop interest in a colleague. Enough to be hurt when he parts ways. But that's not the only problem. You're feeling guilty."

"You're grasping at straws." Her green eyes scalded into his neck.

"Am I really? You haven't met my eyes once since you came in here."

She snarled, but didn't look up at him. "I have nothing to feel guilty about. Especially not anything I would bother hiding from _you_."

Dark's eyes softened. "The kidnapping didn't go exactly as planned. There was a witness. A girl with red hair. You were asked to deal with it."

"You can't possibly know that," she shot back, her defenses down. Disbelief was reopening the wounds in her expression.

"No," Dark acknowledged. "I only know about it because I was there, later. If you say it wasn't you, I'll believe you."

Shira grimaced. She didn't know how to deny what happened when he was looking at her that way. Why did he seem so understanding? Did he really know what she'd done? "You saw the body, then?" she asked him quietly.

"No. I saw the _girl_, climbing back up the cliffside." He watched her carefully. "I helped her up."

"She's alive?" Shira barely murmured. For a second, Dark wondered if she was thinking about hunting down her stray witness. Then her eyes brimmed with tears, and he knew Riku would be safe. "You've got a lot of balls, telling me all that," she said through a tight throat. "I may not be able to kill you for knowing too much, but there are other ways to punish you."

"Yeah. There are," the angel acknowledged. "But I have a tendency to believe in people. Including you."

"Naïve," she scoffed half-heartedly. Her wrists relaxed, the gun shifting harmlessly off to one side.

"Shira…you're on camera," he reminded her gently.

She looked confused for a second, distracted by her battle with her own emotions. Then she blinked and slowly straightened her aim. Only this time, her expression was different. Less cold. "Why are you doing this? You could have escaped earlier."

The angel smiled, but it didn't look real this time. "I'm not here to rescue Daisuke. I'm here to make him safe."

"After the procedure, he will be safe."

"Will he? After all he's seen here?" Dark asked, the threat of ice in his voice.

_Witness._ The word burned like a neon light in her head. She stiffened and could think of absolutely nothing to say. If Gorudo was willing to kill the girl for knowing too much, why not the boy? Could she promise him Daisuke's safety without lying? Why was lying suddenly a no-go? "Trap will ensure he remembers nothing. There's no reason not to release him," she said.

"Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?" the angel demanded blackly.

She thought of Trap's cold words when she'd met him earlier that morning. _-"If your attitude threatens the project, I'll be forced to report it. Overcome your personal reaction and perform your job."- _Hurt crept through her chest, against her will. She tried not to care, but she was so exhausted, so tired of being torn up by the weight of what she thought she'd done and her fruitless efforts to understand Trap. "Gorudo shouldn't need to kill him. Trap can find a way to make sure the boy won't cause trouble once he's released. I'm sure he knows how."

"But you're not sure he _will_," the angel observed.

She shook her head to avoid sharing what had been spoken between her and Trap earlier. She was talking to a prisoner, for god's sake. _A prisoner who could have left by now._

"Do you trust him?"

Shira blushed and grimaced at the same time. "He's pretty cut and dry. I trust him to act the way he always acts."

Dark smirked. "I've spent a lot of time around humans. If there's one thing consistent about them, it's that they're never, ever, 'cut and dry.'"

The soldier blinked at that bit of information. Then she froze as she realized something else. "Trap thinks the girl is dead," she breathed.

"Does that bother him?" Dark raised an eyebrow.

_He thinks he lied to the boy. That much, at least, bothered him. _ "I'll be back. Don't even think about leaving this room," she told him as she headed for the door. "And I'm still guarding you!" she shot over her shoulder.

"Say 'hi' to him for me," the angel teased as she left the room and sealed the magnetic lock behind her.

As soon as she was gone, his expression fell. He knew, for sure now, that Gorudo wouldn't just release the boy. The only reason Daisuke was safe right now was because Gorudo still had a use for him. The billionaire didn't just want the Black Wings captive in a cell. He was determined to break the soul link between him and the boy.

And before he could do anything further, he needed to know _why_.

He still couldn't afford to think about Daisuke's decision or his attitude the night before. But finding himself alone again in his pale cell, he was left with very little choice. He closed his eyes and thought of Risa instead. Was she sitting somewhere, listening to all of this? He was probably worrying her. Maybe it was selfish to drag her though this whole thing with him. Her words spilled back through his memory, as hard to accept as ever.

'_With normal people, we have to tell each other what we're thinking. If no one else knows how you're feeling, that's when people go crazy. That's why.'_

He smiled faintly. That crazy woman. She could say anything, so easily. Could he actually be that way? Could someone who had only shared himself through a supernatural link over hundreds of years learn to express his soul using only words? If he could just talk with her, he thought, everything might be easier. But their link was one-way. Her voice and smile couldn't calm him here. He had to get through this part on his own.

He lowered his gaze, out of view of the cameras watching him. The truth was there inside him, pounding to be released. _Words_, he told himself. All he had to do was say the words.

"Risa…" His voice was a hesitant brush of velvet in the empty room. "I miss you."

**- - -o0o0 O 0o0o- - -**

Daisuke was sitting up cross-legged in his cot. His leg, shot only days ago, offered no pain in the flexed position. It had healed quickly. Much more quickly than humanly possible. But he didn't have enough focus to worry about that. In fact, that was just the problem.

He wasn't worried at all.

Riku was dead. Trap had lied to him all along, and she was dead. He knew, _knew_ that he should be upset. He should be devastated. He loved her beyond belief, wanted to spend his life with her. He remembered that those feelings existed. That was why he _knew_ he should be upset right now. He should be _more_ than upset. He'd managed to hold on to his anger for a while, but now, even that wouldn't come.

He felt nothing.

For the first time in the last week, he realized how weird that was. He stared down at the photo of Krad that Trap had handed him. No fear, no adrenaline at what this could mean for his friends or the world. No concern that he was trapped and in serious danger. Or that he'd placed Dark in the same danger.

He'd betrayed Dark. Hurt him badly. Rationally, he could remember a bond deeper than the sky. Two souls linked, sharing each other's strength and pain.

He'd been devastated when he first lost that bond. There had been months of empty, painfully silent nights before he'd finally allowed himself to move forward and focus on the people he still had with him. Now, when that bond was offered a second time, he'd thrown it away freely. The thought of opening himself up to that kind of attachment again, of undoing all those months of emotional effort, had scared him, yes. But somewhere along the line, fear had morphed into apathy. He'd discarded the idea of their link like a dull newspaper, spoken to Dark like an unworthy guest.

When had he learned to do that? When had he stopped feeling guilty, or angry, or afraid, or in love? It was obvious that something was deeply wrong, but he couldn't quite place it. Couldn't gather up enough emotion to care about it.

He looked around the room, studying every counter and every machine that had been inside his head in the last week. What was happening to him? Should he try to stop it, when it hardly seemed to matter?

And did he really want to face the truth?

**- - -o0o0 O 0o0o- - -**

The sharp ring of Hattori's cell phone startled everyone in the room. Jiro's arm jerked so hard that he displaced half the chess board he'd been playing with the vet.

"Who is it?" Riku asked from beside him. She'd nearly dozed off in Satoshi's armchair.

"Risa," the vet said after digging the device out of his pocket and flipping it open.

"How goes the stakeout?" he asked her.

"I'm out of coffee," Risa accused.

"Sorry about that," Hattori smirked, glancing across the room. His patient was lying awake on the sofa with an ice pack on his chest. "A lot to deal with over here."

"How is Satoshi?"

"A few broken ribs. He'll be sore for a few weeks, but nothing that won't heal."

"…and Krad?"

Hattori looked over at the opposite end of the room, where the white angel was perched on a kitchen stool as far as possible from the rest of them. The angel glowered at him as their eyes met. "We have a sort of truce, for now," he said into the phone.

"Can I talk to Satoshi?"

The vet narrowed his eyes. "You sound really serious. Did something happen with the other birdbrat?"

Risa took a deep breath. "Yeah. Give me Sato, okay?"

Hattori stood up and approached the bluenette, sparing a cautious glance at the opposite side of the room to be sure the boy's uber-possessive superpowered bodyguard didn't plan to tackle him again. "She wants you," he said, handing the phone off to Satoshi.

The young Hikari took the device carefully. The last time he'd spoken with Risa, they'd all but split up, and he still didn't know how to feel about it. "Hi," he greeted her.

"Hi," she said.

Silence on the line.

"Have you slept?"

"Not really. How are you feeling?"

"It's no big deal, as long as I move slowly. Hattori gave me some painkillers."

"…Listen, Sato, about last time…"

"Yeah," he said quietly, looking at the back of the couch and ignoring the other eyes that were on him in the room. "Guess we have some things to figure out."

"Maybe when this is all done, we can talk… and decide what we need to do," she said carefully.

He knew as well as she did what they would need to do. But she was right. Not now. Later, when emotions weren't running so high. Right now, they couldn't afford to be any more fragmented than they already were. "Yeah," he confirmed gently.

He could hear her take a deep, steadying breath. "What are you going to do about Krad?"

"I don't know," he said honestly.

"I don't trust him, Sato."

"You're right," he accepted.

"He's dangerous. _Please_ be careful."

"I won't let him hurt anyone else." His eyes trailed across the room, but Krad didn't look at him.

"It's not enough to just keep him away from the others. Sato, you're the one in danger. You're the one he's hurt the most. Don't let him do it again."

He grimaced, because she was right, and he didn't want to talk about it. "What's happening with Dark?" He scanned the room and couldn't help but notice he now had the white angel's attention.

"Basically, we can't count on Gorudo to release Daisuke."

"Damn," Satoshi muttered. "Has Dark given the signal?"

She looked out the window of the van, peering up the monolithic side of the Gorudo building Dark and Daisuke were trapped in. "No signal. But…he needs help."

Satoshi braced himself for a debate. "If he isn't signaling us, then he has a plan. If he couldn't get Daisuke out of there safely, he'd let us know. It's too dangerous for us to try to interfere."

"He shouldn't be in there alone," Risa said, strength coming back to her voice.

"He's used to working alone, Risa," Satoshi sighed.

"Not like this." _Not without Daisuke._

"Dark's a tough guy. He can handle himself."

She shook her head as the angel's words echoed in her head. _'I miss you.'_ She'd never heard him say something like that before. The memory of the pain in his voice tightened her lungs. That place was crushing him. How could she not have noticed sooner?

"Just because he can go it alone, doesn't mean he should have to. Did you forget what Krad said? The angels can't survive without a soul link. He's running out of options in there. What if he decides the safest thing for Daisuke is to let them separate him?"

"If that's what turns out to be necessary, that's Dark's decision," Satoshi said sternly.

"It's seriously okay with you if Dark _dies_ getting Dai out of there?" she snapped in astonishment.

"Of course I don't _want_ that, but we agreed that the first priority is Daisuke. We need to stick with the plan." He closed his eyes tensely, fighting away the guilt. Someone had to be practical here, or they were all going to get themselves killed.

"Sorry, Sato," she told him solemnly. "The situation's changed too much to stick with that plan. I'm done doing things your way."

He didn't like the determination in her voice. "Risa…what are you planning?" he asked quickly.

"What we should all be doing. Backing up Dark," she said. "I'm hanging up."

"Risa!" Satoshi gasped. "Whatever you're doing, be careful."

"I'll call later," she said, and ended the connection.

There was no hesitation in her mind. She wasn't the girl anymore that had clung to Dark during his robberies without a care. She was a woman with hard-won street smarts, and she knew exactly what she needed to do to level Dark's playing field. She grabbed her purse, checked the street outside, and got out of the car. Smoothing her clothes, she looked in the tinted van window and brushed out her hair until it hung in soft brown falls around her shoulders. She pulled a bright lipstick from her purse and rubbed a solid coat across her lips, then dabbed foundation across the dark circles under her eyes. She observed her reflection. She cleaned up nicely, considering she'd been in the van for two days. _Good._

She pocketed Dark's stone and took her hand off of it, hoping the angel wouldn't need to tell her anything for a little bit. She walked around the side of the building and marched herself straight up to the front entrance. Security guards blocked her as she approached. She took a light skip back and looked up at them with her purse clutched in front of her shyly.

"Can we help you, Miss?" one man asked while the other grinned.

"Yes!" she said with her brightest, most girlish smile. "I'm looking for Trap."

**- - -o0o0 O 0o0o- - -**

**To be continued!**

**Whee! A few new hooks thrown in this part. Please let me know what you think!**

**Next chapter: Trap and Risa…do lunch(?), Daisuke gets a reality check, and Dark gets an appropriately crazy plan.**

**Till next time!**

**Kat**

_**Shout outs!**_

_Damaged Ghost of an Angel: Thanks for reading! Cool, I'm glad the laugh worked! _

_Shay Weaver: Yeah, Krad is tricky. So little information about his personality in the series, but that leaves more opportunity to develop him in fanfics! And you're right-on about Dark; I think he's not the type to wallow in the muck, even if it hurts like a b#tch. Thank you so much for reviewing!_

_Natsuki376: Yay, you're awesome! I'll get back to the Sato/Krad stuff soon enough. Thanks for the encouraging feedback!_

_Animeannie: Thank you so much! I guess this thing is getting pretty long! I am so bad at keeping things short. And! I technically had Krad in this chapter! (though he had no lines!) -ducks and hides-_

_Intelligenceisstupid: Eeek I can't address any of your questions without spoilers! But I think you'll see the answers in the next few chapters : ) Thank you so much for reading!_

_Stormshadow13: Woot, I'm glad the funny parts stuck! It's very hard when writing humor to know if others will find it funny too. Hattori is so useful as an OC, I get to pry all kinds of weird reactions out of people! I think you'll see Dark and Krad interact in some very unexpected ways later on : ) I agree they'd be awesome fighting together! Thank you as always!_

_Silver: Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm sure there are a few typos lying around in this monstrosity. It would be actually really useful if you could point them out to me if you find any more, so I can fix them rather than leave them there. I'm glad you like the storyline. I started this thing planning to make it quick and casual, but yeah… it kind of took on a life of its own!_

_Fireflower19: -EXPLODES- Whee your review made me all bouncy! Holy smokes, I'm flattered! If the humor made sense to you, then I know I'm doing okay, since you are the humor queen! Daisuke may make more sense after the next chapter, so I'm curious to see how you'll react._

_Sneeze Powdered Moth: First of all, your SN is awesome. Second of all, thank you so much for your wonderful review and all your support! _

_Of Untold Secrets: Thank you for reading! I'm really flattered. Yeah, Dai is kind of nutty. The next chapter may help clear that up slightly! _

_Bansheegrrl: Thank you as always! Jirou does get yelled at a lot, but that's what he's good for (sadistic grin). I'm still debating whether the adult cast will get in huge trouble for 'abducting' him from the hospital!_

_Emiko Suzuki: LOL! I didn't do it, Midnight did it! -cough- Thanks for the review!_

_IceYuki: Thanks for the review! I appreciate the honest feedback, and I know Daisuke's been pretty selfish in this story. I'll admit it's partly because I found him whiny in the anime and felt like he didn't always take responsibility for things. But he's also a good person at heart, and he wouldn't go so far as to be purposefully cruel. If you're still reading, I hope you can let me know what you think of him in the next few chapters._

_**Thank you all so much! **_

_**-Kat**_


	30. Trust Games

**Part 30: Trust Games**

The pale screen spewed forth its never-ending parade of numbers and lines, endless abstractions graphing his test subject's mind. Daisuke's thoughts sprawled out in black and white pixels before him, mapping the boy's conscious and subconscious emotions.

Trap turned his grey eyes downward at the stapled heap of paper laid out on the desk in front of him. His thumb wrestled endlessly with the button at the end of his pen, while his other fingers pinned the implement firmly against his palm.

To his trained eyes, the scores stapled in front of him and the ones feeding across his monitor were completely different. With the exception of the faintly tracing line at the base of the readouts that represented the Black Wings's presence in his subconscious, the mental activity between the two sets of data was so changed that it could only belong to an entirely different person.

There were no emotions on the current graph. Not even an undercurrent of stress. The ever-scrolling thought patterns flowed by in a level march.

To actually subdue and alter brainwaves electronically… the technique was groundbreaking. It was probably the pivotal breakthrough of his career. Once perfected, the applications of something like this could be unlimited. What he was looking at now - the mind pattern of a teenage boy in a state of utter calm and peace despite the passing of a loved one - was a first and extraordinarily important step toward those applications. The weight of guilt, the pain of loss, even the unnecessary stress of everyday anxiety could be subdued, now, with this technology.

In a few hours, he would use the same technique to completely diverge two connected minds. He stared at the readout on the screen and thought about that, hard. His grip tightened on the pen in his hand.

Something rose in his stomach, a tense adrenaline like the rush of a pilot just about to crash. Not exactly the sense of triumph he'd expected. Gorudo was keeping things from him, and it was keeping him on edge. Why hold the boy hostage when he'd already obtained the Black Wings? Why lie to him about it? What did he want from this separation procedure, if not Dark?

Just half an hour more. In half an hour, he would have his meeting with the head of the company. He would ask Gorudo the questions he needed to ask to be sure he had control over this project.

The phone rang. Trap jerked as the pen pinned in his hand snapped in half. Cursing, he snatched for the napkins at the side of his desk and rubbed at the ink on his palm while the phone blared at him impatiently.

He finally grabbed the receiver and slammed it to his ear. "Trap," he growled, pinning the device between chin and shoulder as he continued cleaning up the broken pen.

"This is Doctor Trap? Uh, excuse the interruption, but this is the front desk. There's a woman here to see you."

"I didn't make an appointment with anyone," Trap dismissed, preparing to hang up.

"She asked for you specifically, sir. She's saying…she's saying you owe her a bowl of ramen." The man's voice crackled with suppressed laughter.

"She's mistaken me for someone else."

"Sir, it's unkind to break promises to attractive young ladies. Go on, I won't tell anyone you snuck out." He could almost _hear_ the guard wink at the phone. Great, they thought he was being bashful about some girl.

"I'm serious. Turn her away."

"_Ms. Harada, it seems he's busy with work at the moment," _the guard said away from the mouthpiece.

Trap stiffened, clenching the napkin in his inkstained hand. "Repeat the name," he ordered.

"Risa Harada, she says, sir."

Time froze as he stared at the phone. He'd spent long enough attempting to research the girl Shira had killed to know the name of her twin sister. "I'm coming down." he said, and hung up. He grabbed his coat and slammed his door behind him. Ignoring the elevator, he went for the stairwell.

The stairwell door hissed shut behind him just as the elevator doors opened. Shira stepped out into the empty fluorescent-lit hallway and glanced around before heading straight for Trap's office. She kept an eye out for the cameras on the floor and tried to stay off the radar, knowing she couldn't avoid showing up on some of them. She turned the knob without knocking and ducked into Trap's office.

"Look you, I know you don't want to see me, but there's something we need to talk about, and I'm not going anywhere until we do," she declared as she surveyed the room. There was no one there. A pile of black-stained napkins littered the desk, and the computer wasn't even locked, but there was no sign of Trap. She fought off a wave of disappointment. She worked up all the nerve to come, and he wasn't even here. "Oh, hell," she snarled. "At least lock your office!" She approached the uncharacteristic mess on the scientist's workspace and tilted her head. "Getting sloppy with no woman around?" she muttered, knowing that wasn't the case. Trap was always impeccably neat. She was a slob by comparison. So why so careless?

She leaned over to peek at his desk calendar. "Gorudo 12:00" was written and circled in the same black ink that was smeared all over the desk. She narrowed her eyes and backed toward the door. She hadn't found Trap, but she had found her opportunity to find out just what the hell was going on here. She grinned smugly at Trap's office before letting herself out. She didn't like being kept in the dark. Fortunately, she had herself a flashlight.

**-o0o0o0O-o-O0o0o0o-**

Trap ignored the fascinated looked the guards cast him as he crossed the marble-tiled lobby toward the front desk. All his focus went to the girl turning toward him, brown-eyed and miniskirt-clad. She smiled at him sweetly as he approached. "Jeez, Trap, don't keep me waiting so long! You're always so busy when you're at work. All these guards are going to think I'm some kind of stalker," she giggled sweetly. She turned an energetic bow toward the guards. "Thanks for your help! You guys are sweethearts!"

The men blushed a little at her praise. "Go on," one encouraged, shooing them.

Risa met Trap's concrete gaze. "Time for some ramen!" The playfulness in her voice didn't reach her eyes.

"I have an appointment," he said, sizing her up. There was no doubt about who she was, but what was she doing _here?_

"This won't take long." Her expression hardened as she walked toward the front door.

He didn't have much choice but to find out what she wanted. His hand found the pocketknife in his back pocket and held it concealed under his coat as they headed out into the street. He focused on following her through the crowded street and into a small ramen house. They made their way through the busy shop to a table for two in the back of the restaurant. She sat down first, casually. He grasped the back of his chair with one hand and sat slowly, watching her every move.

A waitress came up almost immediately. "Do you know what you'd like to order?" she asked.

"Tea for me. He's fine," Risa said.

The waitress nodded and rushed off.

Trap studied her. "I thought you wanted ramen."

"Are you offering to buy me lunch, Trap?" she asked darkly. Her right hand let go of the magic stone in her pocket. _Sorry, Dark. I need to focus on this for a minute._

"Who are you?" Trap's gaze was gray ice freezing into her.

"I think you know who I am," Risa said, crossing her arms. "My name seemed to get your attention well enough earlier."

"You're mistaken."

"You know me, and you know about my sister. It makes no difference to me whether you admit it or not. You and I need to have a chat."

"How do you know my name?" Trap demanded.

"I might tell you, if you answer my question first."

"What is it?"

She leaned forward on her elbows and sized him up sternly. "What did you do to Daisuke?"

Trap's pupils shrank to dots as he stared at her. "Who is Daisuke?"

"The boy you threw my sister off a cliff to kidnap."

Something real flashed in his eyes for a split second. Pity? No. Guilt. Shira hadn't told him yet that she was still alive. The flicker of expression was gone too soon for her to figure it out.

"Sister? You seem to be confused about something…" The words tasted flat in his mouth.

"Give it a rest. I have ears inside the building. I know what you've been doing. I know about Shira, and Dark. What I don't understand is what's wrong with Daisuke."

A long pause sat between them. What was this girl trying to do? "The boy is safe," he said clinically. "His injuries from his arrival have nearly healed. Remarkably fast.

"I didn't ask if he was harmed. I asked what you _DID_ to him," she snapped.

"That is classified."

"Every word we've already spoken has been classified. You need to explain. Or are you really just some slimeball corporate scientist who doesn't care who he has to hurt?"

Risa's tea came and was set on the table between them in silence.

Trap was about as readable as a glacier. "How do you know so much about this project?"

"I said, you first."

He examined her like she was a rubik's cube. "Selective neural modification."

"In English."

"Using a machine, certain types of brainwave patterns are reduced or transformed."

"Why use that on Daisuke?"

"To separate his thought patterns from the Black Wings."

"That hasn't happened yet. Why is he already different?"

Instead of answering, Trap analyzed her all too patiently, like he could see her thoughts in waves and dots in front of her face. Back in his lab, he probably could. But not here. She reminded herself that she had the upper hand. He needed to know how much she knew, and until she told him, he couldn't walk away.

"Oh, come on," she growled. "I heard his conversation with Dark. That wasn't Daisuke talking. He would never say those things. How did you make him like that? Why did you turn him into an insensitive jerk?"

"To make it easier for him," the scientist replied.

That stopped her dead. "What?"

"He was kidnapped and shot. He was left to guess at his girlfriend…your sister's safety, and then learned she was killed. He has no one to confide in for the time being. That type of stress can damage a human mind. I need him undamaged."

"So you used the machine to block it off." Risa couldn't quite believe what he was saying. As warped as the reasoning was, was this guy actually trying to protect Daisuke? "And you think knowing that he abandoned his soulmate will be an easy thing to throw onto the pile of things he needs to cope with when this is all over?"

"The Black Wings is not a soulmate. It's an artificial brainwave pattern bound to a human mind."

"Dark's as human as we are," she growled. Trap seemed unmoved.

"He only seems human because he is connected to Daisuke's thoughts and emotions. Once parted, the similarity will only be skin deep.

She rolled her eyes. "You really have no idea what you're dealing with." She fought back the sneaking fear that he might somehow be right.

Trap's eyes narrowed. "I answered your question. Now tell me how you know all of this." He wondered if he would have to take her into custody to keep her from spreading what she knew. She had every reason to interfere with the project.

"I have ears inside the building."

"Where?" his eyes narrowed.

"You won't be able to find the transmitter."

"You seem very knowledgeable about the Black Wings," Trap studied her.

"More than you," she scoffed. She thought a moment later that it might be a dangerous thing to brag about."

"You didn't answer my first question, so I'll take a second. Do you know anything about a white-winged angel that's been seen in the city recently?"

"Why?"

"I'm curious," he said with all the emotion of a granite cliff.

She weighed her thoughts. "Krad?"

"Krad?" he repeated. "That's 'Dark' backwards."

"Yeah, that about sums him up," she dismissed. "Trap, listen to me. You're dealing with something you don't understand and can't control, and Daisuke's life will be in danger if you continue."

"My equipment is harmless," Trap said, gnawing back frustration at the change of subject.

"There are a lot of scarier and more powerful things in that building than your equipment, and you can't control all of them."

"What?" Trap looked down at his watch and twitched. _Damn. _"We're done talking." He handled the knife in his pocket and thought about taking her with him. His meeting with Gorudo was in five minutes. There wasn't time, and he needed this meeting, now more than ever, to get his questions answered. "If you interfere with this research, you will be eliminated. Understand?" he said, standing up.

"Tell me, Trap, is it fun being the bad guy?" Risa snapped. This had to be the most insensitive person she'd ever met.

Trap ignored her and turned for the door. Risa followed him out to the street.

"Put him back to normal," she demanded as the crowd milled past them on the sidewalk.

He paused and looked at her. "I'm very serious. Stay out of the way," he warned.

"I mean it too, let him think for himself!" she called after him, but he was already walking away toward the front doors of the Gorudo building.

**-o0o0o0O-o-O0o0o0o-**

Dark was lying on his cot with arms crossed behind his head when the door to his cell slammed open.

"How'd it go?" he asked casually as a grim-faced Shira pounded into the room

Shira threw her gun and bag onto the folding chair in the corner and whooshed across the cell to stand before Dark.

"You said you know how to get through this whole building, right?" she asked.

"Shira, cameras," Dark warned, sending a sidelong glance at the lens that was trained on them both for the viewing pleasure of the control room next door.

"I sent them out to lunch," she said, dragging his attention back to her. "The top floor, the big office there, did you go there too?"

Dark narrowed his eyes. "Why? Did you even speak properly with your boyfriend?"

"He wasn't there, and we are not like that," Shira said. "He's going to Gorudo's office at noon.

"For what?" Dark said.

"I don't know. It was on his calendar." She paced the room. I need to know what those two are talking about. Something is wrong here."

"You want me to spy on their conversation?" Dark asked, feigning horror.

"Not you. Me. Just tell me how you got up there."

"No offense," he said, "but I'm kind of a professional. You're not going up there."

"I'm professionally trained as well, and a lot smaller than you," Shira said.

"Why don't you let me go, and I'll tell you what I hear?"

"There's no way in heck I'm falling for that. You could tell me anything. Hell, you could just leave the building. I'm hearing this myself. Are you going to tell me how to get there, or should I just guess?"

Dark rolled his eyes. "If I wanted to leave the building, I'd be gone. You're not equipped to do something like this on your own. If you grab the wrong handhold or make a wrong turn, you'll collapse through the walls or even fall out of the building, never mind the fact that you'll be discovered."

She locked stares with him and finally sighed. "Will you show me, then?"

Dark's eyes glowed with anticipation. It had been some time since he'd put his skills to use, and if there was one thing he had in common with Shira, it was that he wanted to figure out what Gorudo was up to. "I suppose I could help you out," he smirked.

Shira took a step back as Dark stood up from the cot and cast her a measuring look. She kept forgetting how tall he was, especially with the wings. The angel seemed to notice her discomfort, but he refrained from teasing her, turning his attention instead to the ceiling. He jumped upward and dislodged one of the ceiling tiles, shoving it off to the side. He hopped to grab the steel frame around the missing tile and swung easily up into the ceiling, perching along the metal beam.

She just stared at him. "No wonder you do so many sit-ups."

"Nah, that was just to show off," he winked, crouching to look down at her.

The words sent the soldier blushing to her ears. "Pull me up," she snapped.

He obliged her, grabbing a beam for leverage and reaching below for her hand. A metal device latched around his wrist instead. "What's this?" he demanded, peering down skeptically.

She reached her own wrist up and showed him a similar unit. "In case you try to pull something. Help me up, I'm not that tall." She threw her hand into his.

Dark rolled his eyes and tugged her up through the ceiling with him. "I'm hurt, where is the trust?" he taunted, studying the labyrinth of beams, pipes, and wiring above them. "Stay on the beams, the tiles won't hold you."

"Fine. What are we doing?"

Dark grabbed a flashlight out of her belt before she could protest otherwise and shined it upward at a column of metal rungs rising up a thick pillar. "Up that, to the very top. I hope you've been doing your pull ups."

"And then?" she grimaced.

"Then things get fun," the angel smirked. There's some freestyle climbing involved to get below the penthouse floor. Then we listen through the vent."

"Hold on a sec. You said vents were dangerous and noisy."

"They are," he said, eyes twinkling darkly.

She looked skeptical about his apparent glee at this assignment. "You get off on this stuff or something?"

"Do you even _watch_ the news?" he scoffed, taking hold of the first rung.

"Sorry about this, then," she said.

Dark had a moment's realization to let go of the metal rung before a bone-jarring shock jumped from the device on his wrist through the rest of his body. He jerked backward and crashed through the ceiling to land hard on his side on the floor of the cell. He struggled onto his back and a second pulse tore into him. "S-…hira," he growled up at her between sucking air back to his lungs.

"Sorry, hon. I work better alone," she said. "Hold your wrist still, and you won't get zapped. It won't be pretty if you move," she warned.

"…'much juice this thing hold?" he strained, squinting up at her.

"Enough. Lie still. I'll be back."

"I didn't tell you everything!" he rasped.

"Sure you didn't. About time someone conned you, huh?" She disappeared from his sight and started up the pillar.

"No, I'm serious! Shira!" Dark groaned urgently as her footsteps faded into the ceiling. _Shit._ The security system…

He glared at the device she'd planted on his wrist and rolled stiffly onto his side to inspect it. He wasn't familiar with the lock on it.

Well. No time like the present.

**-o0o0o0O-o-O0o0o0o—**

**To be continued!**

**-o0o0o0O-o-O0o0o0o—**

**I'm sooooo sorry for taking so long with this part! I got engaged and it took a huge chunk of my time over the last few months. It will probably continue to do that until the wedding in September, but I'm determined to carve out time for this story too! **

**Coming up – Gorudo's motives are revealed, but at a price to those involved. Dark will need every ounce of his wiliness and strength to avoid the worst and keep his own captor safe. And there will be…. An important twist! **

**To those who left me reviews, thank you soooooo much! **

**Please let me know what you think!**

**-Kat**


	31. Hero

**Chapter 31: Hero**

_**My little soundtrack for the chapter: The Sun Song by Michael Tolcher**_

Dark drew a slow, exploratory breath. Small clips of electricity were still jumping between his veins, cluttering his lungs. He pulled his gaze up to the ceiling where Shira had disappeared. He was no longer able to hear her movements above. She was probably well on her way along the path he'd explained to reach Gorudo's office. She had no idea what she was getting into.

He rolled his eyes back to the device locked on his left wrist. He reached out to explore it with his opposite hand, careful not to jiggle the volatile circuitry. His fingers probed the sides of the unit, searching for buttons or any type of code lock. The surface was remarkably smooth and featureless, but his fingernail finally discovered a small notch on the underside of the device. He very slowly turned his wrist over so he could see what he was feeling. It was a keyhole.

"Lovely," he grimaced.

A combination lock he could have decoded without moving, but for this, he was going to need a pick. Finding one would hardly be a big deal, if not for that fact that the device on his wrist was rigged to tase him every time he moved. He glanced around the empty cell to the bag Shira had left on the chair in the corner. There had to be something useful in there.

Eight feet never felt so far away.

He gritted his teeth and slowly shifted to a kneeling position, holding his wrist very still against the floor. His muscles buzzed in warning, recommending that he stay still, but he didn't have the time. That hot-headed amateur was going to get herself in serious trouble up there unless he made it to her soon. Ever so slowly, he lifted his palms upward.

About three inches off the ground, the motion sensor in the device went off and a jolt of power pummeled his body. His frayed nerves split under this new assault. He jerked into a fetal position and glued his wrist back to the ground. Another zap punished him for the sudden movement, provoking a deep-throated outburst that was half growl and half scream.

His senses scattered into a blizzard of electricity and pain. "Not cool," he rasped. He fought back a mad half-formed impulse to smash the device into the floor until either he or it simply broke. Sweating, he dug his forehead into the floor and tried to regain focus. She'd left him like this. He'd helped her, and she'd left him on the floor with a torture device on his arm. A fierce and lonely anger finally kicked in.

He locked his dazed vision on the chair in the corner. Just a little willpower, and he'd get there. He could always slug her one _after _he saved her life. He controlled his breathing, put strength back in his good arm, and pushed himself slowly back to a sitting position. In slow motion, he rose to a crouch and braced himself to step forward. The moment his foot lifted from the ground, the sensor activated. The shock threw him back to his knees. His vision blurred dangerously. Being tased once was one thing, but even _his_ body had its limits before permanent damage took hold. His bones ached like they'd been submerged in ice. He knew no further pain would come if he just laid still. Man, did he ever want to lie still.

_*Daisuke…* _His mind reached out on pure reflex for the answering subconscious presence that he knew could center him, make him concentrate on what he knew was right. His pain-shrouded nerves overwhelmed his pride at the moment. He needed contact, reinforcement from the other self that always added to what he was when he couldn't. *_…Listen, Daisuke… I know there's a lot going on with you, but I could use a little moral support here. Just for a minute.*_

He knelt very still, every nerve focused and searching. His thoughts sobered second by second as his call won no answer. He'd known deep down that it wouldn't. It pissed him off that he'd tried anyway. Daisuke wouldn't respond. He didn't _want _to respond. Dark slammed his good fist into the floor as if to break apart the whole place around him. That crazy woman was going to have to take what was coming to her. He couldn't do this. Damn it all, he was completely on his own and _he_ _couldn't do this_. Not any of it. Not alone, not anymore.

He took deep breaths to keep himself from falling any further apart. "_Pathetic. I'm being pathetic,"_ he barked at himself. The words filled the silent cell, but bravado wasn't sealing up the wound. Pride could only carry him so far. "Oh, man. You're hearing all of this, aren't you, Risa?" he realized aloud. He chuckled dryly. He wondered how much of this crazy situation she would be able to understand through her one-sided oral link. "Sorry. I'm probably making you worried. Honestly, I hope you've given up listening already." It was a boldfaced lie. He wanted to believe she was still out there listening, as pointless as it might be. He needed to think that she, at least, hadn't changed. It was way too much pressure to put on one person, to redeem his whole confidence in humanity. When had he started needing her so much?

He thought about her dutifully monitoring his struggles from wherever she was, patiently observing him, even though he was only letting her see part of the picture. That scenario was nothing new. Since he'd met her, she was always waiting for him to give her an opening, waiting for some way to be allowed to help him.

She had no idea how much she already was.

A spark of passion lit up his dark train of thought. He was free, after all. He had his own body, with all the exhilaration and loneliness that came with it. He was done being afraid of it. No one else could control him, not anymore.

And if he wanted to save his pain-in-the-ass captor from herself, he could do as he pleased. This flesh container wasn't going to stop him. And he didn't need to do it by himself. He refocused his frazzled muscles and rose, ever so slowly, to his feet. "So, Risa," he murmured, "I can't do my little inner monologue thing with Daisuke, so you're it now, okay?" He paused for a second, for the heck of it. "I'll take your silence for consent," he smirked. "I have a little idea. There's no way I can survive this going step by step. So I figure I may as well take it at once. Like ripping off a band-aid. Fun times! This may get a little loud, so keep your cool." He collected all his nerve, crouched, and launched his weight forward, diving across the room. The inevitable zap struck him as he left the ground, and an answering shock recoiled through him as he reacquainted himself with the floor. He shuddered and sucked in tight, wheezing breaths as his insides threatened to collapse. "Arg, not fun times," he amended hoarsely.

When he was able to see straight again, something silver came into focus. A victorious glint flashed in his eyes. He was nose to nose with the leg of Shira's chair. "Gotcha!" He reached up and grabbed her bag, pulling it down next to him. It took mere seconds to find what he needed. "Bobby pins. Such vanity for a soldier," he snickered breathlessly as he used his teeth to unbend the thin wire and snap it in half. Picking the lock took a matter of seconds. The offending device unlatched and dropped harmlessly to the floor.

He rolled over onto his back and laughed, first low and then louder, claiming victory over the malignant device. As his laughter finally wore off, he lay still for just a few more seconds. "I know," he murmured to his invisible audience. "It's time to go."

He got back to his feet, shaking off the last few tingles, and threw the deactivated taser bracelet into Shira's bag. Slinging it over his shoulder, he went back to the tile he'd fallen through and swung himself up into the ceiling. "Risa, if you're listening, try to get to the east side of the building. Just in case," he said as he jogged to the pillar and started climbing. "I have some catching up to do."

**-oOoO0OoOo-**

Shira looked around at the maze of vents, pipes, beams, and wires around her. There seemed to be a lot more clutter in the walls up at the top floors. That freak's directions had gotten her this far, but it seemed this was the part where he'd mentioned "freestyle climbing". She wished she'd gotten more detailed instructions before trapping him, but asking too many questions would have just tipped him off.

She took hold of one of the wooden beams that continued up and began climbing. She got up to the next floor and gratefully let herself off onto the horizontal surface to rest. It looked like she couldn't get any further up this way. She crouched and followed the narrow space next to her, looking for anything that might be the vent Dark mentioned. She finally did spot a huge tin shaft rising up at a steep angle. It had to be the air shaft, and it was certainly the only one she'd seen that was big enough to crawl through. She leaned around the shaft and studied it for a way in. "Silly me to forget my tinsnips," she muttered.

She climbed over the vent and kept walking until she saw an even larger tunnel. This one actually had a maintenance door on the side. She reached out to the latch and swung it sideways. The door came open.

"Easy as pie," she grinned, walking into the shaft. She didn't even notice the small security pad she walked past as she entered. She followed the shaft, which grew narrower, but stayed tall enough to walk through. There were even small LEDs planted along the route. This had to be the way they used for maintenance. Figured this building would have something like this. Dark had mentioned some fancy ventilation systems. She finally came to a vertical shaft rigged with a ladder and climbed it up a floor. The shaft split off there and didn't seem to rise any higher. She'd tried to count the floors on the way up, but seeing this made her sure. She was there. The top floor.

She made her way as stealthily as possible down the shaft, but Dark had a point when he said that vents were noisy, even hospitable ones like this. She finally saw a light filtering in up ahead and followed it. She crouched in front of the source and looked through the bars into the reception area of Gorudo's office. She could see the elevators and the secretary's desk. And as she watched, she saw Trap walk in and announce himself to the secretary.

She was just in time. She carefully made her way further along the tunnel and, sure enough, saw another light. She was about half way to it when she barely spotted a thin red line stretching like spiderweb across the shaft. She stopped before it and frowned at the small receiver on the wall next to it. Security? In the air shaft? Something didn't sit right in her stomach. Dark's description of Gorudo came back to her mind. _"Paranoid. Possibly obsessive."_

She lay on her back and shimmied, ever so carefully, under the light sensor. When she finally got to look down into Gorudo's office, she'd already missed some of the conversation. She leaned in close to the 2X3 foot panel set near the ceiling of Gorudo's huge penthouse office.

"Sir, with all respect, I can't do my job if you don't tell me what it is," Trap was telling the CEO across his massive desk.

"You're doing your job perfectly."

"My job was to summon and obtain the Black Wings. It's already here."

"Now, Trap, don't think I haven't been monitoring your little side research. I'm sure a smart man like you has realized by now that Dark is not the whole Black Wings. I appreciate your diligence. After all, curiosity is the foundation of science. Rest assured, you don't need to hunt anyone else down. My interest is only in Dark. The other angel is none of my concern. He has a history of…instability."

Why not just tell me this in the first place? Why keep it from me that Dark is here?"

"I wanted you focused on your task."

"But not Shira? It was fine to tell her?"

Gorudo leaned forward over his desk toward the stone-faced scientist. "Come on, now. We both know she's no scientist. It's you I need. I just wanted her for muscle. The project needed security. She needed to know, you didn't. I do hope her help didn't interfere with the accuracy of your data."

"She did her job," Trap said flatly.

Shira frowned down at them, careful to keep quiet as she watched. Was he actually defending her? He'd always seemed so fed up with her as an assistant.

"Alright," Trap said. "Since the research objectives have clearly altered, let's just be clear. You have Dark. Why bother to separate the boy's soul from the angel at all?"

Gorudo smirked. "Because Dark can only link to one soul at a time, of course."

Trap blinked. "What?"

"Which brings me to the other point I wanted to review with you. I have just a few modifications to this afternoon's procedure." He casually set a fat stapled document in front of the scientist.

Trap warily began looking through the file. His gaze darkened as he continued reading. "Why didn't you tell me about this before?" he demanded.

"You didn't need to know before."

"You're serious about this?"

"Oh, I'm always serious, Trap," Gorudo smiled darkly.

"Sir… I can't do this," he carefully took his voice down a notch, "This can't be done without a thorough record of _your_ brain patterns, as well. I would need the same research I've been doing on the boy for the past nine days."

"Not to worry. I've filled that part in myself," Gorudo said, procuring a second envelope. "I had a second machine built and cloned the procedures you followed with the boy on myself. This should be everything you need." When Trap didn't respond, he continued, "You know how to isolate the angel. It should be a simple process to use the same technology to do the reverse."

"I don't really understand why you want to…combine with it," Trap said slowly.

Shira stared in disbelief. What the heck? Tension balled up in her chest as she thought through what they were saying. She reached out and touched the vent for support.

Something clicked inside the wall. There was a winding of gears, like something mechanical shifting, and suddenly the panel she was crouched in front of dropped out of the wall, clattering to the marble-tiled office floor. "What?" Shira gasped, staring out at Trap and Gorudo.

Both men were staring at her. Trap's expression was unreadable, but Gorudo's was unmistakable. The CEO yanked open his desk drawer and pulled out a pistol. "Trap, hit the alarm," he growled as he swung the barrel toward Shira and fired. She gasped and threw herself flat in the tunnel. The bullet went straight through the aluminum behind her. She could hardly believe he was actually just going to shoot her. Then again…it wasn't that hard to believe. Anyone paranoid enough to booby-trap his air vents from the inside was paranoid enough to shoot anyone he caught peeping.

Another shot came through the vent near her shoulder, grazing her jacket. A second later, the lights went out, along with all the lights in the ventilation shaft.

"I said the _alarm_, Trap!" Gorudo snarled.

"Sorry, sir. Wrong button," the scientist said, making fumbling noises with the switch panel on the wall.

"Get them back on, you imbecile!" A few more bullets flew helter-skelter through the metal around her.

"Trying, sir."

"Damn it, I'll do it myself," Gorudo snarled.

Shira didn't wait around. She turned back in the direction she'd come and ran for her life. A few moments later, the alarm went off. She could hear metal latches and motors grinding and spinning. Something heavy slammed up ahead of her.

"Crap," she breathed, her heart pounding out of her chest. She fumbled her way in the pitch black corridor, trying to feel her way forward with her feet and find the vent that would take her downward the way she'd come. After she was nearly sure she'd missed it, she came to a ridge on the floor. She knelt down and felt around to find a closed hatch. She yanked at it and kicked it, to no avail. No way…they'd locked her on this level? Did people seriously build security systems like this in real life?

She cursed and kept going down the now-unfamiliar tunnel. A tiny sound, like the sound of a camera flash charging, came from behind her. She spun around to see a small red light pointing straight at her. Combat training instinct kicked in and she threw herself to the floor. A beam of light shot out where she'd just been. The smell of burnt metallic fumes filled the air around her. No way. No freaking way. She was working for a psychopath. The device began adjusting its aim toward her new position.

At least it was slow. She made a run for it and strained to listen for more warning sounds amidst the distant blaring of the security alarms, the slamming of her feet on the metal vents, and her hammering pulse. The faster she went, the more searching lights she noticed, robotically tracking and aiming for her. They definitely hadn't been visible before. She was faster than them, if she just kept moving. She came to a fork in the tunnel. Down one leg, she could hear a keypad beep and a metal hatch slide away. Someone was coming.

She picked the other tunnel and ran for her life. This one was straight. The guard lasers had plenty of time to point and aim, and she had no choice but to run dead ahead. She gritted her teeth as one of them pointed straight at her from far ahead and charged up to fire. She threw her arms forward to guard her vitals, certain she was going to have to keep running with a nasty hole somewhere in her body.

However, the red tracking lights suddenly flickered off, as if all the power had gone out. She grimaced. Was something even worse coming for her? She kept running and finally spotted a large grate filtering in light in the distance. She ran for it with all she had, ready to deal with anything if it would get her out of this nightmarish shaft. Relief poured through her nerves as she reached it and kicked the grate with all her strength, charging through it in the same movement. It gave way, and bright natural light flooded her vision as she found herself…falling. She thought fast and flailed, managing to grab onto something sticking out of the wall a few feet down. She hung on for dear life while her eyes adjusted to the brightness around her.

Something was wrong. She could hear… cars. She looked down and found herself hanging 30 stories above the street, from the outside of the building. She screamed and grabbed onto the lamp she was hanging from for dear life. "Guess that freak wasn't kidding," she muttered in terror.

"Darn right I wasn't," A voice came from above her. She looked up tensely to find the angel standing at the mouth of the shaft she'd fallen from. He looked pale and out of breath, but he also looked confident, which brought back some of her senses.

"How did you get up here?" she gasped.

"Who do you think I am?" he smirked darkly. "Reach up for my hand." He lay flat on the tunnel floor and stretched his arm down toward her.

"There are lasers in there," she warned.

"I used your little toy to short out the electricity for the floor. It won't last forever, so grab on," he ordered.

"I…I can't hold on and reach at the same time," she gasped, gripping the lamp for all it was worth.

"Do it or fall. I thought you were trained for this stuff," Dark said.

"Look, buddy, I don't know what kind of training _you_ do, but my arms aren't used to climbing 25 stories."

"I know," he said almost gently. "Just this one last thing, and you can rest. Reach up before your arms give out completely." He glanced past her and noticed the white van pulling up onto the sidewalk directly below them for the first time. _So she was listening,_ he thought gratefully. She'd been with him all along. But not even the relatively soft landing of hitting the roof of the van instead of the street was going to be survivable from this height. He stretched his hand toward Shira and gave her a reassuring look. "I won't drop you."

Shira stared up at him, guilt blending with the fear in her eyes. She very slowly shifted her weight to what she thought was her stronger arm. Her muscles trembled in warning that they couldn't hold on. She tried anyway, reaching up for Dark's hand.

One of the bolts holding the lamp to the face of the building pulled loose. The fixture jerked to a 45 degree angle. Shira's hand slipped. Her fingertips barely grazed Dark's as she lost her grip and fell.

"Shira!" Dark shouted as she dropped away from him. Cursing, he scrambled to the edge and dove after her, grabbing onto her waist as they fell and pulling her in close to his chest.

"Oh God," her scream climbed back into her throat as they hurtled downward. "Aren't you supposed to be able to fly?" she shouted hopefully.

"Yeah, about that…" Dark called back regretfully over the roar of the wind. He looked at the ground coming toward them. _He couldn't. _He threw his wings wide, trying desperately to catch the wind and control it. The muscles shifted uncooperatively, folding against the pressure instead of channeling it. Needles shot through his back as the nerves began to go numb, like every other time. "I can't, Risa," he gasped. They were going to fall, hard, and he couldn't stop it.

The door to the van below them swung open and Risa ran out to the middle of the street, looking up at them as they hurtled toward her. She stared straight at him and raised her arms upward, like she was embracing the sun, then waved them down and up again. _Fly_, the unspoken command was there in her eyes and in the posture of her entire body. Confident, encouraging, certain. The same blindly trusting look she'd given him as they'd fallen from the school tower during the earthquake. _Use them!_

He set his gaze on her and threw his wings as wide as they would hold, pushing them, commanding them. He didn't believe in them, but she did, and damn it, he wasn't going to die folded up like a wounded sparrow. He'd rather go like a hawk hunting the earth.

A predator's resolve spread his feathers wide, pride and anger and determination replacing the blood in his veins. He was a creature of the sky. A phantom ruler of the winds. He would not be betrayed by them. He would not betray _her_ faith in him. He'd made her cry for him once, and he refused to fail her again. She was all he had left.

Lavender eyes narrowed to fierce, violet gems as he clutched Shira tightly and pulled up. He ignored the numb spasms. "You're mine. Do as I ask," he whispered to his rebellious limbs.

The air tugged up beneath him like a boat catching sail. The sudden force made him gasp, but he held onto it for all he was worth, straightening his shaking muscles taut against the wind and hauling into it.

The angel's stomach slowly floated back into place. He breathlessly sought his bearings and looked around. The windows beside him were whizzing by horizontally instead of vertically. A familiar feeling buzzed through him. He was in control. He banked right and circled back toward Risa. His muscles strained in response and held him as he turned and flew straight to her. With a few sturdy beats, he slowed himself down and landed a few feet in front of her.

They stared at each other in breathless silence as Shira folded to her knees and passed out between them.

"How do they feel?" she finally asked with a quiet smile.

"Like they're on fire," Dark winced, returning her grin shakily. He looked at her like he really didn't care about any of that right now.

"Dark, you're staring at me," she laughed, tears finally streaming down her cheeks.

He swallowed. His eyes were a rich amethyst that couldn't leave hers. He didn't have the words. He never did, with her.

He closed the space between them and pulled her in close, unable to speak. She locked her arms around him in return, tight enough to cut off his breath. He clenched his eyes and soaked in her presence. There was no way to thank her or explain how much she meant to him right now.

"You used your wings," she half-cried into his shoulder.

"You were my wings," he said tightly, so low she almost didn't hear him. Her slender hands dug tighter around his back.

He lingered there for a few more seconds, as long as he could. "I have to go back."

"You have to go back," she agreed, sadly.

"You'll take care of Shira? She's not as nasty as she likes to pretend."

"Oh, I'll take care of her."

Dark smirked, parting from her enough to look at her. "Security's probably seen you. Try to avoid your house."

She nodded. "We're all staying at Sato's apartment." Dread flickered in her expression.

"What's wrong with Satoshi's place?" the angel asked, confused.

Risa didn't meet his eyes. "Don't worry about us. Just don't do anything stupid in there."

Dark grinned. "Well, you know me. But I'll try," he calmed her warning glare.

Risa composed herself and cast him a bright smile. "See you soon!"

"Soon," he agreed, stepping reluctantly back. He spread his wings and took off with a sore, but victorious, beating of his wings. Risa watched him fly back up to the shaft they'd fallen from and disappear, back into the steel jaws of the Gorudo building.

**-oOoO0OoOo—**

**To be Continued!**

_**Thank you so much for your reviews, guys! You're amazing! This is where the story starts to spiral into the climax, so please let me know what you think **_**: )**_**. I could use all the feedback I can get to ensure the cards play out right from here on. **_

_**Love, **_

_**Kat**_


	32. Allies

**Part 32 - Allies**

"Is she dead?"

"Of course not, sweety. Just stay back. Don't poke at her."

"Shouldn't we tie her up?" Hattori murmured.

"I don't think it will be necessary," Risa said, putting a wet cloth over the woman's forehead.

"So run through this one more time. Why exactly did you kidnap Daisuke's…kidnapper?" Satoshi asked, watching the scene from the sofa. Risa, Riku, Hattori, and Jirouu were crowded around the limp female form stretched out on the living room floor.

"She parted ways with Gorudo, and now he's after her," Risa said. "She needs help."

"She's your enemy, isn't she? Just let her boss kill her," Krad remarked. He was observing the chaos from a quiet corner.

"I hate to say it, Risa, but the birdbrain has a point," Hattori muttered.

"No," she frowned. "I'm as mad at her as you are, but Dark trusts her. He asked us to look after her."

"And what if they track her back here? We can't exactly afford to draw attention to ourselves right now. As if we aren't conspicuous enough," Riku said gently, glancing around at the collection of weirdoes that were congregated in Satoshi's apartment.

"Once she wakes up, she can help us. She overheard a meeting between Gorudo and Trap that Dark couldn't reach."

"You're assuming she wants to hide. She could wake up and try to turn on us all to get back in with Gorudo," Satoshi said.

"She's dangerous, Risa. She tried to kill me."

Risa looked at her sister guiltily. "I know. I'm sorry."

"I think she's waking up," Jirou observed, poking Shira's cheek with a soda straw.

"Jirou, stop that. Go stand somewhere safe," Riku instructed. The boy obediently got up and limped over to the corner with Krad. "Oh, God, you're kidding," she muttered, giving up on protecting the boy. If his instincts were that bad, it was a lost cause anyway.

"Damn, I'm hungry," muttered the woman on the floor. She opened her eyes slowly to an unfamiliar ceiling and blinked at it. "What the hell…?"

"Listen to me, you trigger-happy psycho. We're going to lay down some ground rules," Riku said, leaning into her field of vision.

Shira brought Riku's face into focus and stared at it. The muscles at the corners of her mouth slowly tightened, and her confused gaze twisted into startled horror. "You're actually alive…" she breathed.

"No thanks to you," the redhead frowned.

The soldier dropped her gaze and scanned the other faces looking down at her. Spotting Risa seemed to stir up her memories. "Where is Dark?" she gasped.

"He went back. He left you with us, and went back alone," Risa said, letting a little bit of resentment into her voice. If Shira had just trusted him, Dark would still have an ally on the inside. Now he was on his own.

"Why did he go back?" she demanded. She sat a little too quickly and earned herself a gun pointed straight at her face.

"He was there by choice, or didn't you notice that? He's there to help Daisuke," Riku pulled back the hammer on Satoshi's pistol to warn her she was serious.

Shira didn't seem to notice or care about the gun. She looked down at her lap, overwhelmed. She was surrounded by the family and friends of the people she'd kidnapped and used. The friends of the boy she'd treated like a science experiment were shielding her from Gorudo. And the strange creature she'd treated as a lifeless object and stabbed in the back had saved her life and then walked back into that nightmare by himself. "Oh God," she barely managed to say. Her throat tightened and unwanted moisture burned in her eyes. She knew she had no right to cry, nor did she have any right to feel better. Apologies were ridiculous, when she'd done so much that could never be fixed.

"Shira, we need to know what Gorudo's planning," Risa said. "Just tell us what you heard in Gorudo's office."

"Gorudo wants the boy and the Black Wings separated."

"We already know that," Risa frowned.

"Not all of it. "The reason Gorudo wants Dark isolated is because he intends to take the boy's place."

The room fell silent. "Like, inside Dark's soul?" Satoshi asked cautiously.

Shira glanced over at him. She hadn't even noticed there were more people in the room. "I think so. All I know is that he kept it from Trap at the last minute."

"Our bonds are to the Hikari and Niwa families alone. They are not so easily rewired," a cold but amused voice drew her attention to the corner of the room.

"What the hell…" Shira just stared at the white-winged angel standing in the corner. "Another Black Wings?"

"They're both the Black Wings," Satoshi interjected, before Krad could get any ideas about killing their informant. "Why would Gorudo want to bond himself to Dark?"

Shira shook her head, trying to decide who to stare at. "I don't know why. I just know they're doing it this afternoon."

"When?" Satoshi demanded.

"The last I heard, three o'clock."

Hattori glanced at his watch. "That's soon."

"Shira…what happens to Daisuke when they're done?" Riku asked.

Shira forced herself to look at the girl she'd almost murdered. Riku seemed to misinterpret her discomfort, and set the pistol down on the table behind her. "I really can't be sure…but Gorudo doesn't like loose ends," she looked at the girl pointedly, "as you've already learned." She was slowly starting to think like herself again amidst all these strangers. These people didn't need a repentant villain. They needed information. "I was trying to do something about it…to talk to Trap. I thought we could handle it together, but I couldn't get through to him. I may have misjudged his feelings for the boy."

Hattori and the girls looked to Satoshi.

An unspoken agreement seemed to take place among them. "This has gotten too dangerous. If Daisuke's safety isn't even on the table, then there's no reason for Dark to go through with this. We have to pull the plug," Satoshi mused.

"I don't want to be a drag, but I'm not sure we have a plug left to pull," the vet commented.

"I'll go," Risa said.

"Not alone, you won't," her sister intercepted. "You need backup."

"Who else would I bring? You and Sato are hurt. Hattori is a civilian in all this and I'm not getting him involved. That leaves me."

Riku frowned thoughtfully. "Krad?"

"Put myself at risk to help Dark and that annoying twit?" the angel scoffed.

"Krad, you're the strongest person here," Riku pleaded.

"I just said that I don't care," Krad flared, warning them that the conversation was over.

Satoshi pushed his glasses higher on his nose and thought hard. "I'll do it, then." Krad's expression darkened with frustration.

"You have broken ribs!" Risa chided. "You're not going out into a potential fight in that condition."

"We don't have much choice. They're not going to get out on their own," Satoshi said.

"Hattori, tell him he's in no shape to go on a rescue mission."

"Actually… he's technically capable of going anywhere he wants, if he can tolerate the pain," the vet cringed at Risa's murderous glare, "If he can stay focused, he's unlikely to make himself any worse."

"It's decided, then. Riku can wait for us in a car outside. After that…well, we'll probably be on the run. Gorudo won't give up easily. This is the right time for us to part ways, Hattori."

The vet shrugged. "I'm in this deep already. Besides, you lot have a habit of getting yourselves wounded."

"How do we get in?" Satoshi asked Shira.

"I can give you the clearance codes for level 12 and the Special Ops entrance, but I can't guarantee he hasn't changed them since I left," she offered.

"It's possible that he's changed them, but it's been less than two hours, and he has a lot of other things to think about today." He cast the woman a firm look. "It's also possible you're giving us the wrong codes, and we're walking into a trap."

"That is technically possible," Shira acknowledged.

The blue-haired man studied her eyes for several moments. "We're going to trust you, because we don't have another choice. I'm going to get ready." He stood up slowly and walked into his room to put a shirt on.

Krad stepped away from the wall and followed him, ignoring the distrustful stares he got along the way. He went into Satoshi's room and closed the door, frowning at his former wing host.

"What do you want, Krad?" the younger man asked as he pulled open a drawer and took out a black shirt.

"I want to know what the hell you're doing. You're really going to put your neck on the line to help Dark?"

Satoshi pulled his arms through the sleeves of the shirt, wincing as he stretched his chest, and began fastening the buttons. "As it turns out, yes, but my objective is Daisuke."

"It's the same thing. You're helping the enemy."

"No, Krad, I'm helping _your_ enemy," Satoshi said firmly as he went to clean his glasses.

"You're going to get yourself _killed _helping Dark and his pathetic wing host?" the angel growled, nearly trembling with anger.

"Let's get one thing straight," the Hikari said, putting his glasses on and walking straight up to Krad. His blue eyes burned into the angel's gold. "Daisuke is my best friend, and I'm not letting anything happen to him. You didn't want this mission, so _get out of the way._"

"Satoshi-," Krad grabbed the boy's shoulder as he tried to pass.

His former wing host threw his hand off and turned on him fiercely. "You don't get to tell me who to hate, and you don't get to tell me who to save, Krad. That game is done, forever!" He lowered his voice. "If you can't stop playing it, then don't be here when I get back."

"I never wanted to be here in the first place," Krad said.

"Fine, then," the boy murmured sourly. He stepped around the fuming angel and back into the main room, where Risa had already prepared herself.

"You okay?" Risa asked, glancing from Satoshi's shell-shocked expression to the angel in the other room.

He made sure he didn't look back. "Yeah."

"Shira wrote down the codes," she said, waving a slip of paper.

"Great. Let's get going."

"What do you want me to do?" Shira asked.

"Get Jirou a cab. If you think you can handle that without kidnapping anyone," Riku said as she grabbed her keys.

"And then lay low. This is my number if you need us," Risa added, handing her a card. Shira looked confused as she took it. "Dark trusts you, so I'm trusting you, too," she explained before walking out the door behind her sister.

"What about the ray of sunshine over there?" Hattori murmured, noting the discomposed glare the angel was sending them from Satoshi's doorway.

Satoshi kept his gaze on the front door and offered the angel nothing. "Let him do what he wants."

A few moments later, Krad found himself standing very still in an empty apartment.

**- -o0o0OOO0o0o- -**

The room was as cold as the concrete encasing it. The harsh neon lights along the ceiling cast a pallor across its occupant, a still figure bound to a chair in the center of the floor. Trap surveyed the suffocating room from the doorway and pushed back an impulse to get out. Thanks to Shira's stunt, he'd finally been granted access for direct contact with the Black Wings. The suddenness of getting what he'd wanted all along was, of course, relieving, but after his discussion with Gorudo, walking into this room felt oddly like a punch to the gut. After all the mixed signals he'd been given about this project, it was getting harder to understand exactly what to make of the thing sitting there in the center of the reinforced basement cell. He'd come here for answers. He wasn't going to waste this opportunity.

Trap slowly approached the bound figure in the center of the room. The prisoner's upper body was wrapped in a straitjacket, tied tight enough to take the circulation from his shoulders. His waist, chest, and legs were braced to the metal chair, which was bolted to the floor. Thick cloth was wrapped tightly over his eyes, and the huge wings behind his back were folded and locked shut with reinforced vinyl straps.

Trap's boots thumped on the unfinished concrete as he crossed the floor. If the prisoner was interested in his presence, it didn't show. The angel's head didn't even move as he approached. It seemed to him a logical reaction. After all, the attendants had been forbidden to talk to him. The scientist came to a stop a few feet from Dark.

"Are you conscious?"

Dark's chin rose, as if he were sizing him up through the blindfold. He'd heard this person speak before. "You're Trap." The voice was hoarse, bruised.

"I am," the scientist confirmed robotically. He studied the angel's silhouette, from the purple hair to the monstrous wings that were hanging as real as anything behind the captive's back. The straitjacket was fastened too tightly. He wondered if that was done by intention, or just incompetence. The angel didn't sound healthy. He contemplated briefly whether Gorudo had had him tortured. "I have questions for you," he stated, nudging his glasses as he approached the captive.

"And I can't wait to answer them," Dark scoffed. The words came out like sandpaper.

Trap narrowed his eyes and studied the strange being, wondering again about the torture. "Have you been screaming?"

Dark tilted his head at him, perfectly composed and unreadable. "Electric shock does a number on the muscles, including the throat. I don't scream easily, but thanks for the concern."

He wasn't concerned. "Where is Shira?"

"Safe."

The scientist narrowed his eyes on the angel and regarded him in silence.

"Don't go quiet on me, Trap, you're all the entertainment I've got," Dark smirked, looking in his direction despite the blindfold.

Trap frowned and moved on. "You're communicating with a girl outside. How?"

"I am? Is she cute?" Dark probed. He thought the scientist had dropped the Shira topic a little too easily.

"The girl knows too much for it to be explained as a plain security leak. You've been getting information outside, and you're going to tell me how. Where is the bug?"

"Hate to say it, doc, but I have no clue what you're talking about."

Trap walked slowly around the angel. He threw a calculating glance at the unnatural angle of his arms and the tight binds latching his wings closed. "How long have your arms gone without circulation?"

Dark lowered his head skeptically. It was more than a question. It was an offer. "I'm surprised at you, Trap. Bribing a prisoner. I don't know about that bug of yours, but I have some information you want."

"Tell me the information. Then I decide what it's worth."

Dark smirked. The man hadn't missed a beat, and he was no fool. To play this game, he had to rely on what Shira had told him about the scientist. "Shira was trying to tell you something before your little meeting this morning." He listened for any reaction from the man, but there was only silence. "There was a girl who was targeted as a witness when Daisuke was abducted for your little project. She was attacked at the scene."

Trap stopped moving. "I'm aware."

"That girl survived."

The scientist stared at him for several slow breaths. "No, she didn't."

"She's alive and well."

"How would you know?"

_Clever guy._ The truth seemed wisest here. "I helped her back up from the cliff."

"Why do you think that information is important to me?" he asked, quietly.

"I don't. But Shira did. So I'm telling you." Dark studied him with every sense he had available, but it would have been hugely convenient to be able to see Trap's expression right about then. "Well? Worth it?"

"No. You haven't answered even one of my questions," Trap said flatly.

"Ask better questions, then," Dark snapped. The ubiquitous ache in the angel's shock-fatigued body was starting to bleed into his voice.

The angel's apparently rising frustration piqued the scientist's interest. "Describe what you're feeling right now."

Dark cleared his throat skeptically. "Heck of a weird question, there, Doc."

"Well?"

"Let's see…I was stunned with an electroshock weapon, about twelve times. My muscles feel like they went through a wood chipper and then got funneled back in. I can't move or see. I lost feeling in my arms a few hours ago, but for the most part, I'm too thirsty to care. That a good enough answer for you?"

"It's a thorough description." Trap frowned at the captive work of art in front of him. "Is that everything?"

Dark shook his head in disbelief. "That's not enough? Are you some kind of sadist?" He wished he could see the scientist's face so he could figure out what he was up to. "Can you take this thing off for two seconds?"

He was surprised to feel cool hands reach the sides of his head and raise the blindfold. Dark squinted into the bright light of the neon-lit room and gradually brought Trap's features into focus. The scientist looked extremely serious, like he was decoding an important message. Dark regarded him blankly. "What are you trying to get at here, Trap?"

"You are an artificial creation. By definition, there are limits to what one might term your "personality". You are neither alive nor human, and yet you seem to have convinced Shira and the boy otherwise. I want to know how."

Dark blinked. His violet eyes darkened with the beginnings of anger. "Such a diligent scientist," he observed. "You want to know if I think like a human. If I have emotions." It was obvious, now that he could see the doctor's expression. He let go of any hope he'd had of liking this man Shira had spoken so highly of.

"Well? Do you?" Trap pressed, analyzing him.

For a moment, Dark wondered if there was more behind the question than what Trap was letting on. The scientist's cool gray eyes offered him nothing. "Sorry, Doc. As much as I'd love to quench your _scientific_ curiosity about what I am, I don't _like _you enough. I don't like the way you work. I don't like the way you treat people, and I'm sure as hell not desperate enough to spill my guts to you just to prove I have a personality.

He raised an adversarial stare to Trap, but the scientist's expression wasn't what he'd expected. The angel blinked at his interrogator curiously.

"My, it looks like you two are having an animated chat," a suave, cold voice came from the doorway. Dark and Trap both looked up to see a sharply dressed man in his 40s enter the room.

Dark had never seen the man, but he immediately disliked his eyes. He didn't need to watch the discovery channel to know a predator when he saw one, and this guy was it.

"Sir? I wasn't expecting you," Trap addressed him formally.

The man smirked as he strode up beside Trap and looked Dark over. "I thought I'd pop down and take a good look at my _artifact_ before the procedure."

"And you are?" Dark's violet eyes flared at the stranger.

The man ignored Dark like he was a piece of lint on his immaculately tailored suit. He addressed Trap instead. "I have a few details to talk through regarding our procedure," he said, walking into the room with the slow confidence of a lion circling prey.

Trap watched the man with close attention as he walked up to Dark's chair. Dark and the richly dressed man exchanged a curious stare. There was something disturbingly blunt about the admiration he saw in the stranger's eyes.

"He appears to be in good condition, despite the earlier setback."

Trap's cool grey eyes studied the obsessed man. "Mr. Gorudo, may I speak with you privately?"

_This was Gorudo._

The hawklike gaze broke away from Dark and flashed to Trap. "We are in private, son."

Dark noticed that the scientist visibly paused at the endearment. Was that irritation, or just detachment?

"I mean privately from the Black Wings, sir."

Gorudo crossed his arms. "We are essentially alone here. Don't be fooled by appearances; the Black Wings is an artificial entity, not a living being. Tell me you're not going to fall into the same snare as that fool woman I had assisting you."

"No, sir." Something in Trap's voice bristled.

Gorudo lifted his chin and seemed content with his response. "Well, then. Remember we talk at my convenience, Trap, not yours. Spit it out."

"Regarding the boy, sir. When this procedure is complete, he will no longer be useful here," Trap offered flatly.

Dark's eyes flashed to Trap, hot and angry.

"That is true," Gorudo confirmed, raising an eyebrow.

"I have some concepts in mind that can be used in returning the boy to society without risk to Gorudo Corp."

Dark tensed. His mind flashed to what Shira had told him before she'd turned on Gorudo. She'd sworn Trap could ensure Daisuke's safety. Maybe she'd actually been right. He had no idea what to make of the scientist's intentions.

"We'll see," Gorudo offered noncommittally. He took a last, slow look at Dark before prowling out of the cell. "For now, focus on getting things ready."

Alone again with Trap, Dark resisted the urge to shiver. The way Gorudo looked at him was so hungry, almost violating, that the angel wanted to rinse his mouth. What exactly did that man want from him? He was certain now that Gorudo's intentions weren't just about greed; this was obsession. He forced himself to concentrate and watched the scientist thoughtfully. Trap was studying the door Gorudo had left through, his thoughts obscured by a posture of controlled indifference. What was he up to? Was this man an ally in protecting Daisuke, or just a run-of-the-mill corporate sellout?

"Trap," he broke the man from his silent concentration, "If whatever-this-is is going to happen, I need to know that Daisuke will be safe."

The scientist turned and met his eyes only briefly, his cold stare weighing Dark's soul like produce. "Don't get cocky. You're a prisoner."

"A prisoner that you need," Dark corrected.

"I don't need you willing. I just need you undamaged." The statement was as impersonal as a red traffic signal. No shred of feeling, malicious or kind. That wasn't the reaction Dark needed. He needed to know if he could trust this guy to protect his soulmate.

Then again, he wasn't exactly throwing Trap a bone here either.

"You wanted me to explain my personality, right? So how about this." The angel carefully let the shields down in his violet gaze. "That boy is everything to me. He is half my world. I've tried my best, but once you split us, I can't be there for him anymore." His eyes flickered with pain. "I need to know that someone else will protect him." His raw gaze rose to meet confused gray. "_Please,_ release him safely. None of this means anything if you don't."

Trap studied the angel's expression like it was a crossword puzzle. "You're getting a bit full of yourself," the scientist replied. He took a step closer and leaned down to refasten the blindfold.

"I will ensure it," Trap said, very quietly, away from the cameras, as the fabric tightened over the angel's face.

A few tugs pulled at the straps behind his back, and the straightjacket loosened by about an inch. The angel drew a tense breath as the blood began scalding back into his arms. The door to the cell hissed shut as the scientist left without comment.

**- -o0o0OOO0o0o- -**

**To be continued!**

**Thank you guys for reading! I have been super busy but I am still working on this any chance I get. Next chapter: No time left, "the procedure" is coming, whether our heroes are ready or not. **

**It's been forever since I managed to do my shout outs:**

**Seylin – Yay, I'm glad the tension worked out in the last part! It's hard to tell if these things are coming out when you're the one writing them, because of course as a writer I feel tense, but it is so good to know when it is conveyed to others as intended! Thanks for reading!**

**Intelligenceisstupid – Thank you so much for the review! Yeah, combining Dark to another person against his will really skeeves me out. In general, the prospect of being that closely bound to someone is one of the most fascinating things about DN Angel for me, so I am having fun playing with it (and using it to make incredibly creepy villains)!**

**Yuki Hikari – I'm really glad to hear that the ending to the last chapter worked! Thanks for reading!**

**Stormshadow13 – You are awesome! And insightful! As usual, I can't reply well to your review without spewing spoilers all over the place. And woot! That makes three people who called Gorudo nuts! I must be doing something right! Muahaha… **

**Fireflower19 – Whee another taser fan! There is some so devastatingly cruel about them, despite their harmlessness. Or maybe that's what makes them so easy to abuse – it has horrifying potential as a tool for torture. Thank you so much for reading as always!**

**Sapphiet – Yay! I think Dark and Krad will be reacquainted with their beloved vet soon enough ; ) There shall be plenty of bickering to come. Thank you for reading!**

**Birgitte LP – Thanks for reviewing! I think the next chapter will address your question about whether Daisuke and Dark will be separated – if I can get off my butt and write it!**

**PurpleWildcat2010 – Thanks for your review! Gorudo is indeed quite crazy… as for whether science can replicate the kind of bond Satoshi and Daisuke had with the angels, well, that should become clear very soon. Sorry about the love triangles, but I promise I won't throw anyone completely under the bus. Since I know you're a fan of Satoshi X Risa, I'll warn you that in this story, their relationship as I've written it so far has been based on helping each other heal from the wounds of losing 'bigger' people in their life. While they turned to each other for support and may have even been in love in some ways, there are also fundamental differences in their values that won't ever be resolved, and the return of the people they were missing may eclipse that relationship, for both of them. I also fixed up the typos you found in the first few parts with Satoshi's last name, thanks for spotting! I am so happy you took the time to read and comment, and I hope you continue!**

**Techlynn – Thankie for the review! Sorry my quick update mode didn't last, lol. After reading your happy review, I feel a little bad I took so long to get this part out. Oh well, I try. Gorudo is indeed a freak… I am pleased with how creepy he is becoming. **

**Natsuki – Thank you for reading as always! Oh, Krad and Dark will meet each other again soon! Though not exactly as the same team *holds back spoilers***

**Staidwaters – Thanks for the review! 3**

**Kathy Ann – Oh god, I made you cry? I'm sorry (but also a little proud, as you said!)**

**Adoxerella – I'm so glad you found the story and liked it! I mainly wrote it due to dissatisfaction with the end of the anime, so it is awesome that it feels natural as a continuation. Thanks for reading!**


	33. Trigger

**Part 33: Trigger**

"Sit up."

Daisuke's garnet eyes opened to look at the man waiting in front of his cot. He'd been asleep again. He'd been sleeping a lot lately. He cast Trap a skeptical look. "What is it? Someone brought lunch already." His voice didn't sound like himself. He thought about that for a moment. He observed the difference, and could bring the idea no further. No particular alarm or concern. No reaction. Only observation.

"I know. Sit up," Trap directed calmly. He waited as the boy leaned up from his cot, dragging the wires from the machine humming next to him across the leather surface.

"The procedure is starting soon."

"Alright," Daisuke said.

"During the procedure, your soul and the Black Wings will be completely separated."

The boy thought through the man's words and stared at him. Trap looked confused, like he was searching for something. A reaction.

"…Was that a question?" the boy asked blankly. _Something off. Something missing._

"No," the scientist said, dropping it. Of course, the boy would not experience emotional response with the machines in play. "I'm going to move you to the procedure room now. We have a little under twenty minutes.

Daisuke looked down at his lap in concentration as Trap rewired the equipment to remote power and wheeled the cot into the hall. "Will it hurt him?" he asked as they entered the elevator.

Trap pressed the button for the top floor, and then the question sank in. "What?"

"Will Dark be hurt by the "procedure"?"

The scientist met Daisuke's earnest stare skeptically. The boy's question suggested emotion, but he could read nothing on the redhead's face to suggest worry or sympathy. "Why do you ask?"

Daisuke paused, looking for words, rummaging through his mind for thoughts that didn't seem to be where he'd last seen them. _He was different. Something was missing._ "It just occurred to me…I'm not sure why it hadn't before…he might not do well without a wing host."

"He won't be alone," Trap said. The elevator shifted to a stop, and the doors opened to the lobby outside Gorudo's office. "The Black Wings will be joined to the CEO of the company."

The table rolled forward again, but Daisuke threw a hand out and caught the door of the elevator, forcing Trap to pause. "You didn't tell me that."

"I didn't know," he answered frankly.

"This type of bond can be very easy to abuse. It could hurt him," Daisuke said, holding onto the door until he could decide what his head was trying to tell him. _Something was wrong,_ but if he just gave it a minute…a few moments to settle out. His brain twisted and worked on itself, seeking a completion to the thought, seeking the emotion that would guide him to react. The effort resolved in a sense of half-dead passivity.

"Daisuke, let go."

He slowly released his grip on the elevator frame, looking confused. Trap pushed him to the right and down a long hallway. It eventually led to a huge, marble-tiled room. The room was situated on the corner of the building. It was at least thirty feet tall, and its walls and ceiling were made entirely of privacy-tinted glass, sporting a panoramic view of the city around them. The midday sun bathed the room in a flood of natural light. A ring of equipment was rigged up in the center of the floor. In the middle of it all was a cylindrical chamber made of thick transparent material. A massive zip-tied bundle of countless wires ran between the chamber and the other machines.

Beside the chamber, tied firmly to a metal chair, Dark sat thoroughly bound. He was surrounded by two armed guards who briefly acknowledged Trap as he entered. Daisuke's eyes locked onto the angel as Trap wheeled him into the room. Trap gave Dark and his guards a wide berth as he pushed Daisuke to a stop about eight feet from Dark's chair, next to the empty chamber.

Dark's violet eyes were no longer blindfolded, and they burned into the boy's empty gaze intently. "What did you do to him?" he demanded.

"I made things easier to cope with. It's reversible," Trap said.

"Reverse it now," Dark growled.

"No talking!" the guard next to him said, pressing a pistol to the back of Dark's head.

Dark twisted his head to glare purple daggers at the guard. "You aren't going to shoot, so put your weapon down."

"Want to try me?" the man snorted, pulling back the hammer.

"Hey, hothead! Gun down," Trap intervened, striding up to the soldier and stepping into his personal space until he backed up.

"You getting soft on your monster, Dr. Frankenstein?" the guard scoffed.

"If you damage my test subjects, my response will not be 'soft'." Trap's gray eyes flashed like cold metal as he slowly wrapped his fingers over the guard's wrist and redirected the weapon toward the angel's shoulderblade. "He knows you're bluffing. Kill him, and all of this is pointless," he instructed. He stepped away from the guard and went back to Daisuke's side to hook up the equipment.

"Don't get too attached, brainiac. We're not exactly keeping the kid as a housepet," the other guard noted. "Boss will want things out of the way when we're done."

Dark's glare flashed up to the scientist, who looked back at the guard. "Mr. Gorudo and I have an agreement regarding the boy's safety," he said.

"Not anymore, you don't. He's Special Ops's problem as soon as this is over."

"He goes free, or the deal is off," the black angel struck in fiercely.

"Have fun bargaining while you're wearing a straightjacket," a guard jabbed.

"You seriously think you could keep me here, _ME, _for so much as a moment, against my will? Dark Mousy, captive to a gang of paid-off cowards?" Dark's eyes lit up, glowing a vivid, angry amethyst. The men took a step back, startled. Magic lit the angel's palms, bursting through the thick vinyl sleeves. He cut upwards with both arms, grabbing hold of the pistols his guards were holding and tugging them wide. Magic seethed in his eyes as he twisted the weapons out of the men's hands. The angel slipped free of the chains on his legs. They'd been pathetically loose all along. Chains on legs really weren't as useful as people tended to think. He rose to his feet and turned on the guards, to find only one remaining.

He spun to locate the other, and froze. The second guard had managed to get to Daisuke and was holding a knife to his throat. "Get in the chamber. Now!" the man snarled.

Dark's gaze flashed to Trap. "We had an agreement, scientist."

"I'll take care of it," Trap said, shaken by how easily the angel had broken loose. He could have done it at any time. "Do as they say. Get in the chamber."

The angel scowled at him, breathing deeply to cool his rage. "You'd better." He released the clips on the guns he held and let them clatter to the floor before throwing the weapons aside. Casting a glance at Daisuke, he turned and stepped into the chamber, pulling the door shut behind him. The guard rushed forward to activate the lock, and the door hissed tight.

Daisuke drew a slow breath as the knife left his throat, blinking at the room. He'd felt it, very clearly. He'd been terrified. He clung to that emotion, and let others come behind it, dragging them cautiously like fish half-hooked. He let the winged figure standing in the cell before him become real again in his memories. "You can't do this," he breathed before the words even fully took form in his mind. "He's meant to be bound to me. You'll hurt him." He blinked at Dark, noting the condemning anger in the angel's eyes. For a few seconds, he honestly couldn't remember why that look was directed at him. He had to forcefully sustain the concept that he even cared. "Turn this off," he breathed, reaching up to the wires taped to the back of his neck. "Turn it off or I'll rip it off."

Trap and the guard exchanged a look. "Restrain him first," the scientist said.

The guard drew a pair of handcuffs from his belt and bound the boy's hands behind his back. He collected his pistol off the floor and reloaded it, training it on the boy. Trap bent down and switched off the machine. "You have fifteen minutes," he said flatly.

"No one harms the boy," Trap said, turning to the soldiers. "Before any of this equipment comes on, I have some questions that are getting answered. Stay here, and keep them both still," he ordered as he left the room.

Daisuke blinked at Dark and the men around him as it suddenly felt like a giant ice pack had been lifted off his brain. The numbness gave way gradually. Steadily. It was the same slow thickness of being aware of a nightmare and unable to wake up. Dark's eyes burned into his soul until he knew the full scope of what was happening. Until the chains and guards and wires and machines had meaning again, and their purpose froze his throat and stomach. Until the fear was finally strong and real in his mind, and the guilt even sharper, and he couldn't help but want the numbness back.

"Dark," he breathed, his heartrate climbing.

The angel leaned with his forearm against the reinforced synthetic walls of the chamber and cast his wing host a grim smirk.

_***Nice of you to join us.***_

**- o0o0O -O- O0o0o -**

Krad jumped as the apartment door swung open. He flew up from the kitchen stool he'd been perched on, a ball of golden fire ready in his palm.

Shira froze in the doorway, squinting at the sudden bright energy. "What the hell?" she cursed, backing up a step.

The angel narrowed his cold eyes and took a threatening step toward her.

"Whoah, just wait a sec!" the woman stammered, her heart picking up fiercely. She could find absolutely nothing human in the angel's expression. So different from the confusing soulfulness of Dark's eyes. But Dark's friends had said this man was also the Black Wings. How bad could he be? "Look, I'm not armed."

Krad's posture promised that he couldn't care less about whether she was armed. "Why are you here?" he finally spoke, his hard voice cutting through the room. And she'd thought Trap could sound cold…

"I sent the kid home already, and I don't exactly have anywhere else to go," the redhead snapped, staring at the magical energy he was aiming at her. If he were going to throw that at her, he'd have done it by now…right? "I thought you were leaving."

"I am," Krad scowled.

The soldier took a cautious step forward. "I assume I don't want to be hit with that," she noted of the glowing light he still hadn't lowered.

"You do not," Krad warned her.

Shira sized him up for a moment. "I'm coming in, so cool your jets, okay?" She slipped through the door and shut it behind her without taking her eyes off him. The angel dispersed the spell, looking more like he might enjoy crushing her by hand instead. She had a very physical instinct to get the hell out of there, but her curiosity outweighed logic.

"Was that some kind of magic?" Shira asked, stepping sideways toward the couch. If she really needed to, she could jump through the window.

"Yes."

It was insane that she actually believed him. "How come you can do that and Dark can't?"

Krad rolled his eyes at the mention of Dark. She was a noisy one, just like the brat, and apparently loved to ask about the same sore topics. Why was he even still here? "Of course he can do the same thing."

She pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. Not possible…magic wasn't real. But then, nothing about this project had seemed real. Her eyes widened uneasily. "You mean to tell me that during everything we put Dark through, he could have shot magic fireballs at us?"

That piqued the angel's attention. "Put him through what?" He smirked in anticipation.

"I'm not proud of it, you creep," she growled. The angel's dark glare reminded her to hold her wild tongue. "So...you hate Dark? That's why you're not helping them?"

"I hate every last disgusting one of you." Gold eyes glowed like fire into hers.

That fiery gaze proved he meant it. Every word of it. He was mad, and itching to act on it. She could almost feel his revulsion in the air around her, a prickling static of lethal intent that held no fear of taking action. She was in over her head here, but hey, she was in this deep already. "If you hate them so much, then why are you even here?"

She knew a second later that the question was a mistake. In a flash of lethal white, Krad launched himself forward, crossing the space between them like a cobra and hammering her into the wall. She half-screamed and felt his forearm crush her throat back against the wallboards. Her lithe body squirmed uselessly against his grip. Her training had not prepared her for something like this.

Krad glared down at the fire-haired pest that had the gall to provoke him. His hatred was not some petty grudge. It went beyond any mortal anger a human like her could possibly imagine. It ran deep in his blood, consuming and hot, fueled by centuries of injustice. And she _dared _to question his resolve so flippantly, this woman who knew absolutely nothing about him? She was worthless. He could crush her into Satoshi's wall and leave her like a smeared moth for him to find. Then, if his former wing host even survived his little rescue mission, that treacherous bastard would be next.

_**And then what? **_

His gut twisted with the agony of that all-too-familiar question. He was sick of it. Just a few days on this awful planet, and it all made him too sick to see straight. There was no room for hesitation on this. He had to set his resolve, starting with her. He pulled his arm back from his choking victim's throat. _Kill her. He had to kill her. _His hand closed decisively. He breathed deep and threw his fist into the wall.

Shira cringed and stood in stiff horror, but the hit never came. She slowly realized that she was still intact. The woman collapsed to the floor, coughing too hard to move.

Krad's fist went straight through the wood paneling on the wall, knocking open a board that had apparently already been loose. Krad's mind regained a fraction of its focus as he realized there was something loose inside the wall. He grabbed the object and tugged it out through the splintered wood. It was a small, leatherbound book. He looked down at the human struggling on the floor, and the terror in her eyes brought his fury down a notch.

He took a slow breath and a step back from his victim. All he felt when he looked at her cowering form was a solemn emptiness. Just as with Midnight's men, his violence against her brought no relief, no sense of closure for the wounds that were opened. It gave him only a kind of slow horror that _none of it would be enough. _

_There would never be an end to this restless misery. _

_The vengeance he sought could not, and would not, bring him peace. _

"What is it?" Shira asked hoarsely from her place on the ground, confused by the way he was hesitating.

"There's no point," he breathed, taking another step away from her. He would rather still be trapped in Dark's seal than feel like this. He would rather be dead.

Shira stumbled to her feet and backed away from him. She wanted to make a run for the door, but didn't think her legs would obey her. She clutched her bruised throat and retreated toward the windows instead. At least if he attacked again, she'd be thrown outside, into the open. _Then Gorudo could have her instead._ She groaned softly at the thought and studied the angel's movements. Krad was staring at her like she wasn't really there. His wings were drawn half-open and tense as if some invisible force was threatening him.

The room went silent for so long that the soldier truly had no idea what to make of him. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you were freaking me out a lot less when you were trying to kill me," she muttered carefully.

"Stay over there," Krad said, going to the stool he'd been in when she'd first arrived. He perched on it, one foot on the bottom rung and the other on the floor. He needed to get out of this place, but his mind was too shellshocked to think of anywhere else to go.

"Is that some kind of book?" she asked warily, still rubbing her throat and watching him like a hawk.

Krad looked down at the object he was still holding from inside the wall, taking a moment to remember why he had it. For something that had been in a wall, it looked recently dusted. Needing the distraction, he opened it and studied the first page.

_September 15__th_

_For the record, this idea seems stupid, even to me. But Daisuke's probably right; It needs to go somewhere. It's taken three months to get to the point where I even have words, and even now, my thoughts flip over the moment I think I've assembled them. Daisuke thinks I need a reflective process. Easy for him to say. As torn up as he is, it seems so much easier for him to deal with this. At least he knows what emotion he's coping with._

Krad snapped the book shut. He suddenly needed to take deep breaths, and he couldn't make his lungs comply. He stood up and paced the kitchen.

"What? What is it?" Shira asked, not liking how riled up the angel was getting again. Maybe she should open the window, just as a precaution. "You can't read it?"

As nosy as she was, the woman's incessant questions gave him some much needed focus. "Of course I can read it," he said. He made himself draw back the cover again. His heart lost its rhythm as he lowered his eyes back to the small, neat handwriting. Why was he even reading this?

_September 19th_

_I can't sleep. I guess it's been about two months now. Sometimes I really think-_

He turned the page reluctantly, only to find the following sheets ripped out of the book. On the next untorn page, there were three words written in a harsh, jagged hand.

_This isn't working._

The rest of the book was blank.

A hand passed between his eyes and the paper, up and down. Krad clapped the book closed and shot his attention to the woman standing in front of him. Shira looked both nervous and curious.

"What is it?" he demanded, blinking her and the rest of reality into focus.

"You've been staring at that page for five minutes. Didn't you hear me?"

He concentrated on her for a second. "No."

She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "I said your hand's bleeding."

Krad glanced down at his hand, which apparently hadn't appreciated its trip through the wall. Scrapes. He stood up, which caused her to take a big step back. The reaction made him despise her slightly less. He put the journal on the counter and went to the sink to rinse himself off. Questions rolled around in his head, chaotic and distracting.

Shira rolled her eyes and leaned to peek through the blinds at the world outside. She leaned against the arm of Satoshi's sofa and tapped her foot. "It's a damn shame. They're not going to make it in there. Even if they get to the kid, there's no way Gorudo will let them get back out."

"If they can get to Dark, they'll escape," Krad commented flatly as he wrapped a paper towel around his hand, not really intending to compliment his nemesis, but it was the truth.

Shira picked up a candle that was on Satoshi's coffee table and sniffed it. "I've seen enough to believe he can get himself out…but himself and three others? I'm not just talking security cameras here. The loon's got an _armed force _and who knows how many millions in technology, and he seems obsessed enough to use all of it."

"Then they'll die," Krad said.

She cast him a slow stare. "You really don't care what happens to these folks, do you? I mean, I'm not lecturing here, so don't slam me into any more walls," she rushed, raising her hands peaceably. "You can do whatever you like. I'm just a little confused."

"Their lives are no concern of mine. They can make their own choices," the angel said passively as he peeled the paper towel off his already clotting scrapes. Minor wounds. They would heal on their own. The other hand, still bandaged from his escape from Midnight, would still need more time. He dropped his hand to his side and went to the door.

"You're leaving?"

Krad looked back at the woman, eager to be somewhere else. "Do as you wish. I have my own business." The door closed securely behind him.

**- o0o0O -O- O0o0o -**

**To be continued!**

**Thank you SO MUCH for reading! I have been completely tied up lately, but it felt so good to finally get this part the way I wanted it. Please let me know what you think!**

**With the incentive of some good advice, I've modified the journal scene significantly (as of 6/15/11) from its original posted version. I know many people have read the chapter already, so I'm sorry for the adjustment. However, I think the new version will help leave more to your (and Krad's) imaginations for later. **

**Love,**

**Kat**


	34. Lost Souls

**Part 34: Lost Souls**

It was just work. Work. His hand pulled at the collar of his gray shirt as he marched swiftly down the long corridor.

This was work. And it was more than he signed on for.

He halted his progress as he noticed four forms turn the corner ahead of him and come toward him. "President Gorudo," he addressed the suited man as they reached each other. He ignored the two bodyguards and whoever was behind them. "Sir, I have a few things to discuss with you."

"With me?" the man asked incredulously, looking him over like he was inspecting a suit from the cleaners. "From what I'm being told, you've been negotiating with our prisoners behind my back. What could you possibly need to discuss with me?"

Trap frowned at the slightly shorter man. "Before we go through with this, I need assurance that the boy will enter my custody. There is no reason to waste his life."

"Oh? Is my pet genius making demands of me?"

"I didn't sign up for _murder, _sir."

"No one's asking you to kill the boy," Gorudo snapped, leaning upward to stare straight into his eyes. "Just stop. Asking. Questions."

"It affects my research, so I'm going to ask questions. Why are you obsessed with going through with this? What's the point in joining with this creature?"

"Again, Trap." The man shook his head with a smirk. "Questions are dangerous things."

The stone-faced scientist didn't look impressed by the threat. "Tell me what you're trying to do, if you want my help."

"I don't need your help," Gorudo smiled, waving forward the shorter figure standing behind them. "Let me introduce you to your understudy. This is Jack Wong. Wong is here on a work visa from China. He's very ambitious. He's read your research. Every page of it. Just in case. Since you're just not feeling up to it today, he'll be overseeing the procedure in your place."

"He'll what?" Trap demanded. "There is no way an outsider to this project can be as prepared for the possible complications as I am. You're putting yourself in danger."

"Don't try to manipulate me, Trap. I see right through it. Thanks for your hard work. It may just win Jack here a Nobel Prize in a few years."

Trap stiffened as Gorudo's bodyguards moved forward and took him by the arms. As they pulled him forward past the CEO, Gorudo leaned over and whispered in his ear, close enough for the breath to blow down Trap's neck. The words were eager, almost lustful. "You want answers, Trap? The Black Wings exists outside of time. It lives on and on, unchanging. That body is a living, breathing holy grail. And soon it will be my own. Well worth killing for, wouldn't you say?"

"You expect this to make you immortal?" Trap whispered at him, not necessarily disagreeing. "Sir, this is obsessive and reckless."

"You're too close to this project, Trap. I'll let you watch the videotape afterward," Gorudo smirked, leaving him behind as he continued toward the procedure room with Wong.

His thoughts blurred into a chaotic frenzy of plots and strategies as he was literally dragged away from the project he'd spent his whole career building up to. He grabbed his access key from the clip on his belt and gripped it firmly, fighting for his next step. He couldn't take down Gorudo's guards. He wasn't built to fight. He was built to think. He needed to think.

They passed the corner and entered the elevator. It stopped at the 12th floor. The most secure floor. _His _floor. _No windows._ He proceeded grudgingly as the men pulled him forward into the sterile halogen-lit corridor. His pulse raced, and every detail of his surroundings became trapped in time as he took one step after another. A single light flickering on the ceiling in the long, too-bright hall. A "restricted area" sign hanging crooked as they passed. A pushcart left standing by the wall.

A pair of janitors passing them carrying a mop and bucket.

Familiar brown eyes catching his as they passed.

The briefest flicker of confusion as she recognized him.

He stiffened for just a second, letting the guards drag him forward.

The blue-haired man walking next to her showed no reaction to him at all, just a testing glance. They were in. They could get there. Trap's breath froze. The decision came like an unexpected instinct.

His fingers loosened. The key pass dropped to the tile behind him.

Gorudo's men took him away.

**-ooo- O O O -ooo-**

***Daisuke. **_**Daisuke!***_

The redhead just stared at the captive form in the chamber in front of him. Seeing Dark's wings bound up raised a jab of nausea in his throat. He'd… He'd really…

'_Your place is here, with the people that created you.'_

'_I can't pay for their mistake for the rest of my life. This is my chance to set things right.'_

He'd put him here. He'd actually _put_ him here.

"Oh my God," Daisuke breathed.

***Daisuke. Get a grip,*** the angel's voice snapped in his mind, cold and firm.

Daisuke couldn't quite find his real voice, let alone his psychic one. It had been so long since he'd used it. When he managed to form thoughts, only one spilled from his mind, raw and frantic. ***Didn'tmeanit Ididn'tmeananyofit!***

Dark's expression softened slightly, but he didn't look any less grim. ***No, you didn't mean to say it. But you still meant it.***

***Dark! Please, just—***

***There's no time for this. Can you slip your cuffs?***

***Just let me explain,* **Daisuke pleaded dizzily.

***I don't want you to explain. **_**Can you slip them?**_*** **Dark cast a glance at the guards that were watching them like hawks.

Daisuke fought down the heavy lump in his throat and tried to pay attention to the cool metal around his wrists. He stretched his wrist and felt for the lock mechanism on his opposite hand. ***I can't. These aren't toys, and I have no picks.***

***We're running out of time. After this little operation is finished, I need you ready to run, in case Trap breaks his word.***

***Dark, you can't do the procedure.***

***That option has already passed, Dai. You're under a magnifying glass right now. Your best chance of escape will be after Gorudo gets what he wants. **

A restless wave of nausea funneled through the boy's chest. Dark didn't know what he was saying. ***He wants to merge with you, Dark. This isn't just about separating our link. It's about forming a new one, with Gorudo.***

The angel stiffened against the glass inside the chamber that held him. Daisuke watched him carefully push the tension out of his shoulders, absorbing this new injury.

***Dark, I'm sorry… There's no way I'll let them finish this. I swear.***

Violet eyes shot to his across the silent room. ***Yes you will. This is already decided. You'll stay put until it's time.***

A protest formed in the redhead's eyes, but the angel flattened it with a cold wave of frustration. ***You'll listen to me, this time, or I'll be the one you need protection from. I will handle Gorudo. He's just one more wing host.***

***But you're strangers. He doesn't know you, or care about you. He's just going to use you!* **He thought of Satoshi and what being linked to Krad had done to him. He couldn't even imagine Dark that way. The angel was about to let himself be permanently chained to that monster's soul. And it was all his fault Dark had been pushed this far.

Dark offered no response to Daisuke's protest. His mental voice was steady and measured.** *Get out of those cuffs and hide your hands until it's safe to run.***

The redhead looked down at his lap, trying to think like Dark for a few seconds. ***If I dislocate my thumb…***

***…Do it,* **Dark confirmed, turning in the chamber to face away from him. He didn't need the visual of Daisuke in pain right now, and he couldn't afford for the guards to see it either. It was time for a diversion. He took a deep breath and cast a smirk at his guard outside. With a sudden burst of power, he pounded his fist on the glass, sending thunder resonating through the chamber. The reinforced walls didn't so much as splinter, but it was still quite a show. Dark pointed his hand up at the steel ceiling of the chamber and fired a burst of magic at it. It rebounded in a fierce shower of sparks around him until it was too bright to see anything.

Sure enough, both his and Daisuke's guards came rushing toward the chamber, guns trained on him. Dark raised his hand for one more fireworks display, when a sudden snap of pain arced down his forearm. He caught his breath and tugged his hand back against his chest, throwing up the other arm instead. He lit up the tube with light while he and Daisuke both dealt with the sensation.

The guards were shouting, but they certainly couldn't shoot him through the thick walls. Dark finally stopped firing and met their eyes in a challenge.

"That's right, you settle down," one guard sneered before returning to keep an eye on Daisuke. Dark glanced back to the boy, who looked a little paler, but composed.

The door to the hall hissed open. Gorudo walked in, with another man wearing a lab coat following behind him. "What's all this noise about? I can hear you idiots from halfway down the hall," Gorudo said, strolling up to the chamber and looking his prized angel up and down.

Dark came to the edge of the chamber and put a hand to the glass, studying Gorudo with renewed interest while the man studied him. He looked for some sign of emotion or personality in the billionaire's eyes, but all he could find was a strange, possessive avarice. Maybe he would be easier to get to know from the inside.

"What's the matter, Black Wings? You don't have the same spark you did a few hours ago," Gorudo smirked.

"I'll show you sparks later," the angel warned, his shock-weary throat still making him sound hoarse.

"How intimate," Gorudo scoffed almost lustfully.

That was offputting. Dark raised an eyebrow at him and stepped back into the center of the chamber. Maybe he wasn't thrilled about his blind date soulmate, but he didn't have a lot of options. "Get this over with."

On cue, Wong walked over to Daisuke and began working with the machines next to the boy's cot. They whirred to life, filling the room with an ominous mechanical purr.

"Where is Trap?" Daisuke demanded.

"His personal opinions were no longer in the best interest of his work," Gorudo smiled, pointing his gaze straight at Dark. "I removed him from the project."

_Shit. _"I'm not doing this," the boy growled. "And you can't do it without me." He sat up, glaring at his captors.

"Oh, but we can," Gorudo said. Two guns trained on Daisuke within an instant. The redhead glanced between the guards tensely.

***Don't you dare. Stay still.***

***Who's going to protect you if I don't?***

***You're not protecting anyone, you're committing suicide!* **Dark snarled.

***You're giving up.* **

***I don't "give up." Remember who you're talking to. If I could get us both out of this, I would say so. Now sit still and let them give you your ever-precious "freedom" from your curse.***

Daisuke paled. ***You're not a curse.* **He knew the words were powerless, because he'd already said as much to the angel. He wouldn't be able to take it back. Some mistakes went beyond healing. He sat back hopelessly against the scratchy fabric of the cot.

"Wise choice, boy," Gorudo said as Wong hooked up the machines.

The scientist consulted his clipboard several times to be sure everything was set properly. "It is ready, Sir."

The door to the hall hissed open again, and two janitors entered the room. They looked around at the strange combination of equipment and people, and made their way in.

"What do you think you're doing?" Gorudo demanded.

"Doing? Our jobs, sir. The ballroom is scheduled to be mopped this afternoon."

Dark turned stiffly at the familiar female voice.

"All access to this room has been blocked today. How did you get in?" the CEO pressed.

"Just my normal key card, Sir," the female janitor said, lifting up an orange plastic tag to show him. "…Sir…what in the world is that?" she murmured, staring at the angel locked inside the glass cylinder.

"Some imbecile in Security must have loused up the access permissions," one of the guards muttered.

"Are we in some kind of trouble?" the girl asked nervously.

Gorudo pondered the two janitors for a moment. "No. Since you're here, you can make yourselves useful. You, go hard-lock the door. We don't need any more interruptions.

Satoshi walked across the room, glancing at Daisuke as he locked the door. His friend looked startled. "Where would you like us, Sir?" he asked.

"We can use some extra hands. You stand by the boy there, and you," he gestured to Risa, "Help him by the tank. Do not talk to the creature inside."

Satoshi walked over to Daisuke, keeping his janitor's cap carefully over his face as he passed Gorudo. He and his friend exchanged a glance as Wong continued checking measurements on the machines against his clipboard.

Risa walked slowly up to stand beside the guard next to Dark's glass cell. She glanced at the gun firmly held in the man's hands and then turned her attention to Dark. It was hard to look at his wings. The way they were braced back against themselves made her stomach turn. His eyes, on the other hand, burned into hers with reassuring strength. She wanted to reach out and touch the glass, but she knew better. She tried desperately to think of a way to get him out of this situation, but his gaze told her to keep calm and take one step at a time.

"Activate the sequence," Gorudo said to Wong.

Wong nodded and pressed a button on the monitor he was working on. The brainwave patterns washing across the screen fluctuated, at first slightly, and then dramatically. Daisuke stiffened as he felt the static of machines playing around with his thoughts. Risa rushed a half-step toward Dark and forced herself to stop. It couldn't be happening already. Was she too late? She threw her gaze to Dark's and found him looking pale, but staring straight at her.

The angel caught his breath as he felt something pulling away from inside of him. His pulse jumped up and pounded at his brain. It took a few dazed moments for him to realize it was done. It had only taken a second to rip apart his reality. He didn't need to call to Daisuke to know he was gone. It was nothing like he'd anticipated. It wasn't pain. It was _absence._ Absence of what was supposed to be there. Something so permanent and so integral to his existence that he couldn't have imagined it missing until it suddenly _was_, leaving him different and unwhole. He felt false. He choked on the emptiness and leaned forward against the glass. The strength left his legs. He found the focus to wonder if he was dying or if the emptiness would simply dissolve him, break him into cells and atoms and leave him floating in this room forever. Was he losing his mind? It wasn't supposed to be this bad…

Risa rushed to the glass, touching her fingers to his across the thick material. She ignored the protests of the guard behind her. The angel looked shocked and pale, like he couldn't even see her. "Dark, focus on me. It's going to be okay. We'll fix this, just hang on a little longer," she said through the glass.

He knew she was trying to guide him, but she couldn't possibly understand that he was alone. He was so impossibly, excruciatingly alone. It had to seem crazy. He tried to grin at her. "I guess I'm really not human. I can't-" his voice broke. He forced himself to stay standing, but the tears came, blinding and unconscious, as his long-protected composure collapsed on itself like a pile of cinders.

Daisuke was gone.

He winced and twisted his gaze away from her as the spark in his eyes flickered out. His whole body dimmed and flickered.

"Dark!" Risa shouted.

"Dark! No!" Daisuke gasped, shooting forward on his cot. Satoshi caught him by the shoulders and kept him steady.

"Stay where you are," Satoshi whispered. He remembered what Krad had said about separating Dark, that the angels' souls weren't enough to survive alone. Had that been the truth? Was this killing him?

"What's happening to him? Reverse it!" the redhead screamed, fighting Satoshi's hands.

"You, over by her, now. I don't know who the hell you are, but you aren't janitors. We'll deal with you later." the guard next to Satoshi said, training his gun on the bluenette's head.

Satoshi slowly released Daisuke's shoulders and walked over toward Dark's tank and Risa. The other guard was pulling Risa backward, away from the glass. Satoshi followed and stood next to her as the guard assumed a defensible distance and trained his gun on them both, leaving his partner free to watch Daisuke like a hawk.

"Focus on the procedure. Wong!"

The scientist nodded at Gorudo's instruction and began readjusting the controls on the machine. "Take the young man's place on the cot, please," Wong directed.

Daisuke's guard ripped the neural detectors off his skin and pulled him up to his feet. The boy staggered for balance as he walked on his healing leg. "Dark!" He stared over his shoulder, unable to take his eyes off the bent, flickering shape of his former soulmate. What had he done? What the hell had he done to him?

Gorudo stretched out comfortably on the cot, watching Dark like he was an exciting film playing out live before him. "Quickly, I want the body undamaged."

Wong set about attaching the sensors to Gorudo's forehead and neck.

"Don't forget the adjustments we discussed."

"Yes, Sir. Activating the chamber." Wong flipped a switch, and the space enclosing Dark began to glow a soft, luminous blue. Wong looked back to the monitor in front of him, and a new set of lines took form on the bottom of the screen below Gorudo's. "The Black Wings' subconscious is reading properly, but it's somewhat unstable. We must commence immediately. Sir, please relax your body and close your eyes."

The CEO complied, smirking as he heard Wong type in a code on the machine.

Dark clasped his chest, wide-eyed, and leaned against the glass as a new force invaded his chaotic mind and shredded it apart. A purple glow surrounded him, glowing sharper and brighter by the second. A door opened like a beacon, sucking the broken pieces toward it. He was in no position to fight it. _*Yeah, I get it. I'm coming,* _he managed. He cast one more look at Risa's passionately worried gaze before folding into the new force.

His body flashed and then vanished in a dance of violet sparks.

The room went silent. Wong reached down and switched the chamber's power off. All eyes slowly shifted from Dark's missing form to Gorudo's.

A faint glow formed around the middle-aged man, pulsing as if it carried its own power and life. Gorudo cringed as his limbs stretched, his face shifted, his hair blended and grew to a deep violet. It took several long seconds for the transformation to stabilize, and then purple eyes opened to the huge glass ceiling above him.

"Dark?" Daisuke asked, pulling forward in the guard's grip for a better look.

The purple-haired form slowly sat up and stretched his fingers, looking down at his hands. He threw his legs over the side of the cot, glancing around at his audience. A glint of excitement formed in his eyes. He stood and took a few easy steps forward. The body moved perfectly, easily. He closed his eyes, focused, and a pair of huge black wings burst from his suit jacket. Risa, Satoshi, Daisuke, Wong, and his guards stared at him questioningly. Feathers drifted to rest all around them.

The angel's lips raised in a slow, fierce smile. "It's mine." He reached out a palm and formed a ball of violet-black flames in his cupped fingers.

"The Black Wings is mine!"

**To be Continued…**

**-0O0-ooO-(==)-Ooo-0O0-**

**Sooo….that happened. –sweats- Thank you everybody for reading and thank you guys especially who took the time to leave me feedback! It keeps my gears turning! **

**Some shout outs:**

Natsuki Chere – Thank you as always for your review! It made my day. I am very glad that Satoshi and Krad are coming through as characters! NOW YOU WRITE TOO! –grin-

Endra1 – I loved your feedback on the scene with Krad's journal so much that I got an idea that I much preferred to the original. So, I cheated a little and actually changed it. Thanks for reading and for the straightforward input! Please keep it coming!

Yuki Hikari – Your review is also awesome~! It's actually great to hear what someone thought of Daisuke's thoughts, since he's a character I find harder to get into than some of the others. Thanks for reading!

Fireflower19 – YAAAAAAAAAAAY! Your reviews are so much fun and so detailed, they always give me confidence for the next chapter : ) Thank you for reading! And for your input on the journal scene.

Kathyann – Wow, awesome! I am very glad you're reading!

Seylin – Thank you! I hope you keep reading!

Intelligenceisstupid – Yay, thank you for reviewing! I'll include more about what Krad does with himself in the next chapter. It's nice to be able to bring Daisuke back, though he still has some explaining to do.

Kris Phantom – Good point about Emiko! I'm going with the assumption that she's out of town, because I have very little love for her character and didn't end up spending time writing her into the story –eep-. All such awesome questions/observations! I'm afraid of spoilers, so I'll just hold mum for now. I'm so glad you're enjoying it! Thank you for reading!


	35. Blitz

**Part 35: Blitz**

The vast room was unnaturally silent. Beside the machinery that had just ripped Dark out of Daisuke's head, the violet-haired angel now stood gazing down at himself. His palms were upturned toward the ceiling as if inviting some sort of applause from God himself.

If applause was deserved, it didn't seem to be coming from the audience around him. Daisuke stood under gunpoint of one of the guards, looking ill as he stared at the being that had inhabited his soul, until a few minutes ago. Risa and Satoshi were equally mute on the other side of the empty test chamber as they hovered as close to each other as possible without provoking their own guard. The scientist named Wong who had facilitated the execution of Trap's research seemed to be the only one calmly observing, though even _he_ hadn't moved from his spot since seeing Gorudo's tawny hair and lanky body warp and smear into the lean, purple-eyed being that was standing in their midst.

The angel turned and met Daisuke's eyes. His smile affected the redhead much like a punch to the gut. The words struggled to form in his throat, but his frozen stomach held them back.

Dark's form strolled to its former wing host until they were almost nose to nose. The calm movement was malicious by contrast to Daisuke's small, mortified stillness.

"…Dark?" the boy choked, hating the hope that made it into his voice. Of course this wasn't Dark. Dark could never move with such…malevolence, not even after what he'd done to the angel. Could he?

Dark's smile grew worse. "I suppose I should thank you." _No, _Daisuke thought, _he'd rather be choked by a snake than experience this creature's gratitude. _"You've served your purpose well. My project is a success."

The redhead's stomach strained to escape through his spine. A success! Just watching Gorudo's words taking form on Dark's lips, with Dark's voice, was enough to surpass any nightmare he could call on himself to remember.

"Dark," Daisuke barely spoke, "If you're in there, wake up. Don't let him be in control."

The angel's expression sank from a smug grin to a snarl, which was both more appropriate and entirely more disturbing at the same time. "That is not how this arrangement works. It is how yours worked. I've made some improvements." He glanced around the room, from Daisuke to the two standing near the empty holding chamber. "I have no further use for the Black Wings' so-called 'will'. Nor for you, or your friends."

"You can't just get rid of us, or Dark," Daisuke snapped, finally locating his anger and holding on to it for dear life.

"An amusing statement. Last I checked, I could do anything I chose, except live forever." Gorudo smirked and glanced upward, as if consulting his memory. "Oh, remind me to check that one off."

"Dark won't let you kill us. You have no idea what you're messing with," the redhead threatened.

"Oh, I really think I do," not-Dark grinned, forming a ball of energy in his hand and admiring it for a moment. He brought his hand back and fired it point-blank into Daisuke's chest. There was not a second's hesitation, not a flicker of the resistance Daisuke had pledged from Dark. The redhead threw his arms up uselessly in self-defense and was shot backward, past his startled guard. He skidded roughly across the tile floor. His sharp cry made Satoshi start forward before being cut off by the insistent barrel of his guard's gun.

Daisuke pushed himself shakily up on one arm, clutching his burnt chest. The panic gave him energy to force his shaking muscles to obey. "Keep it coming," he breathed, spreading his fingers out like Dark's looming form was a sun shining in his eyes.

"You expect that the Black Wings' mind can overpower mine if I upset it enough?" Gorudo mused with a smirk. Dark's smirk. "It's a rather flawed system. As I said, I've made some adjustments."

Daisuke's fearful expression darkened slowly. That couldn't really be the truth. But he couldn't feel Dark anymore. He had no connection whatsoever to what was going on with the angel. The thief's absence didn't really hurt him, in and of itself. But Dark had clearly been suffering, those moments before Gorudo had taken him, as if it had been some kind of agony to be separated. The memory of the angel's bent form against the glass replayed without rest, as insistent as the burning ache in his chest. How could he feel so normal when the angel had been so wounded? Guilt and anger welled up in his throat. "What did you do to him?"

Gorudo tilted his head back and laughed. "_Him?_ You seem to have a rather twisted concept of what the Black Wings is. It is an Engine, one with great power. Instead of putting that power under the hood, where it is intended, you've been letting it ride shotgun."

The redhead pushed himself to his knees and up to his feet, fighting against the soreness in his leg from the healing bullet wound. "Give him back." He took a bitter step toward the billionaire.

Daisuke didn't even see the fist coming. His jaw made an audible pop as he was spun with the impact. He wound up back on the floor where he'd started, staring dizzily up at Gorudo. "Oh, I think it's a little late for that," Dark's voice chided him almost sympathetically. Gorudo was forming a new sphere of energy in his palm. Daisuke scrambled sideways as the magic flew down at him. The power left a crumbled mess where it hit the tiles. Bits of ceramic and too-hot air pressure buffeted the redhead's face, but he escaped the worst of the impact.

Before he could rub his vision clear again, a boot flew down into his chest and pinned him. "Dark, stop this," the boy gasped, trying to suck air back into his lungs. "I know I messed up, but you need to stop him!" He cringed as Gorudo's hand glowed with violet energy.

"This wouldn't be so messy if you'd be still," Gorudo chided, as if he'd been made to sweep the floor in his own gaudy executive suite. Daisuke hadn't thought there were really people out there who could view another human as literally nothing more than some nuisance to be discarded. Maybe in stories, but _real_ people didn't think that way. Right? How many times had Dark shown him to look deeper into people, and even artworks, for something more?

"Gorudo, that spell will kill," he groaned against the pressure of the man's boot. "Just lay off so we can figure this out."

The executive's expression widened into a smirk, but not a friendly one. The spell glowed to life, and he raised his arm to release it.

An absurdly loud pounding echoed through the nearly-silent room. Gorudo glanced to the door along with both guards. Daisuke used the opportunity to struggle sideways from beneath the man's foot. He was barely back to his feet when Gorudo collared him and swung him down onto his back with a heavy thud. Dark's hand found his neck and crushed it down against the damaged tile.

The pounding came again at the door.

Gorudo turned toward it impatiently. "See what they want," he barked.

Daisuke's guard walked tensely to the hard-locked metal door, unlatched it, and creaked it open.

"Max? The boss in here?" demanded a shorter man in a Special Ops uniform from the other side of the door.

"He's here…" the guard glanced back at the winged form that was strangling the red-haired kid. "He's a little busy."

"Why the heck ain't any of you answering your com links? We got serious trouble out here. Tell the boss it's important."

Max blinked, finally taking in how ruffled his colleague looked. He reached up to the receiver hanging on his ear and pulled it off to study it. The diode on the side flickered erratically. "Damn machines must have messed with the coms," he muttered. "What's happening?"

"The cops are outside, that's what's happening."

Max's eyes drew narrow. "We own the cops."

"These ain't the local troopers, these are fucking feds. And they want in."

He looked up at the glass ceiling above them as a helicopter sounded nearby. "What do they want?" he demanded.

"Turn on the telescreen in here," the man muttered, pushing in past him. He took in the chaos inside, and the violet-haired angel, in a blink. "Oh shit, he really is here…" Beyond his comment, he didn't miss a beat as he rushed to the control panel on the wall while Max shut the door behind him and re-locked it. A few buttons latter, a huge flatscreen built into the wall glowed to life. The soldier flipped channels quickly, and a brown-haired reporter took up the screen, speaking in pantomime. "How the heck to you get sound on this thing?"

"Do I look like IT to you?" Max growled.

Gorudo halted his attack on the boy to check what was happening on the screen.

"NEW PHANTOM THIEF? DARK MOUSY IN TOKYO" ran the headline in large white letters across the bar on the bottom of the screen.

"Hit the mute button!" Risa interjected.

"There's no sound, girlie," the soldier chided coldly.

"_So hit the mute button!" _she snarled, tugging against the guard holding her. Satoshi stretched his head to the side, blinking to bring the screen back into focus.

"It's muted, genius," Max realized, reaching past his colleague to smack the orange button. Heavy volume flooded out of the speakers as a female reporter's voice echoed through the ballroom.

A helicopter image of the Gorudo skyscraper lit up the screen. "The chaos began just minutes ago, when the local police found this message etched onto the hood of an official vehicle."

The video switched to a live feed of a police SUV surrounded by a huge crowd of onlookers. Police were working to keep the curious public away from the crime scene. Across the hood, the paint was scratched raw in impossibly neat script.

"**I Will Steal Dark Mousy.**

**12:30 PM**

**Gorudo Headquarters"**

"Police so far have no leads on who might have left this note, or what it means, but its clear resemblance to the warnings frequently left by the phantom thief has triggered involvement from the federal government. Officials are attempting to reach the Gorudo Corporation, but there is still no answer as to whether the criminal mastermind might actually be harbored in the company's headquarters. Whether this threat is legitimate or just a prank remains to be seen. Federal and local forces are investigating the location presently. The notoriously popular thief was last seen more than two years ago and was suspected missing after a major earthquake shook the city at the time."

Gorudo frowned at the screen and turned his gaze back on Daisuke. "You have more friends outside?" he demanded.

Daisuke just stared at the screen, as confused as Gorudo was.

Risa and Satoshi looked at each other. "Riku?" she mouthed to him.

Satoshi shook his head faintly, not wanting the attention of the guards. His gaze floated to Daisuke. The redhead was focused on the screen, probably even more confused than they were. Whatever was happening, it wasn't going to be in time to keep his friend alive. All of this work, and he couldn't even move with this idiot's gun on him.

"Sir, the time on the warning, it's any minute," the guard behind them said, checking his watch.

"Don't be fools, no one's coming," Gorudo snarled. "They're just trying to get the cops into the building. Tell the boys at the door to keep them out. They have no substancial evidence to authorize a search. Max, go with him. Wong, you're done. Get out."

Max and his colleague from outside nodded and left the room. The scientist slinked out behind them. Gorudo turned a frustrated gaze back on Daisuke and his allies. "I'll take care of this little problem first." His hand closed down hard on Daisuke's throat and began to glow. Daisuke let out a strangled scream as the angel's skin literally burned through his.

"Daisuke!" Satoshi dove forward, ignoring the guard. Risa followed Satoshi's lead. If one of them was going to move, they might as well take their chances. She spun in the opposite direction and went straight for the guard, shoving into him as he took a shot at Satoshi. The bullet went through one of the panes in the huge glass ceiling, sending shards down across the room. The news helicopter outside was louder now without the glass barrier. Satoshi ran straight for Gorudo, grabbing a black wing and hauling it upward. He threw a kick into the arm that was clutching his friend's neck and knocked the angel off balance.

Gorudo's purple eyes shot up to meet Satoshi's. It was a chilling, violent glare. Daisuke coughed for breath as the angel launched his attention toward Satoshi. He rose from his position above the redhead, gliding to his feet with inhuman smoothness, and punched the bluenette squarely in the chest.

The chest.

The impact launched Satoshi backward, and he barely kept his footing as his vision paled. His damaged ribs were screaming at him to sit down and hold still, and not to dare move them again. He heard another shot go off behind him. "Risa," he breathed. _Stand up. Don't fall now. _

The guard moaned, landing on the ground with a thud.

"Impressive, girl. But stupid," Gorudo growled, his eyes lighting with power. Satoshi glanced behind him blearily. The guard was on his back, clutching a wound at his waist. The gun was lying on the ground nearby, and Risa was struggling against a force that was literally pulling her into the air off her feet.

"Satoshi!" she gasped, too scared to think. Her hands were still shaking from her wrestling match with the guard's gun. "Dark, stop it!" she pleaded. She was crying. Flecks of the guard's blood were spattered on her face and clothes.

Gorudo threw his hand in a firm gesture, and Risa was tossed sideways into the holding chamber where Dark had been earlier. She collided with the inner glass with a scream and dropped to the floor of the chamber. The door shut and locked behind her.

Satoshi looked back at Gorudo, too alert with fight-or-flight to think about his chest anymore. He was the only one in the room standing, and he was alone up against a psychopath with full access to Dark's strength and powers. The cops would not make it here before Gorudo killed him. He needed to think of his own solution.

He dodged to the side as a burst of energy launched at him. _Don't stand still. Move._ He strafed a few feet and then ran for the angel while grabbing the pocketknife at his belt. Gorudo froze and violet eyes followed him as he came in from the side. Satoshi remembered Dark's fierce response when his wings had been injured. (_"Don't touch them!") _He only had one shot to get this right and throw Gorudo off his game. _Sorry, Dark,_ he thought grimly as he zigzagged straight for the huge black wings.

Fire ate his lungs. The visible target in front of him shredded to a red blur. The sensation disconnected him from his body, making him oblivious to his own direction or movement. Then a strong hand caught his shirt and jerked him forward, and he was full of a dull knowledge of **up**. Something was lifting him off the ground. He didn't care about the movement or pressure on his throat or how he got there. All that mattered was the fire.

A crash sounded above him. The sharp noise numbed his ears and brain. When sound came back to him, the helicopter was louder, and rain was falling around him. No…not rain. Hail. _Glass. _

**Falling. **The hand holding him up released him abruptly, and he stumbled to a defensive ball on the ground. A fierce light brought his vision from red to white as something large moved past him, very fast.

He only closed his eyes for a moment. That had been his intention. But he _knew_ it had been more than that as his senses crawled back to him. Someone was holding him up in a sitting position.

"Satoshi!" the hoarse voice called yet again. His blue eyes pulled open and brought Daisuke into focus. He remembered to panic. "Gorudo," he gasped, sitting up too quickly and startling himself with the renewed pain in his chest.

He tried to read Daisuke's expression. He looked worried and…confused. The redhead looked upward. Satoshi's blue eyes followed. Two hawk-like forms were flying in the air above them.

And they were beating the hell out of each other. Satoshi flinched as a rush of wind brought a body crashing into the floor next to them. The ground shook with the impact, chips of glass rattling on the tile. Vivid gold eyes caught his for just an instant, sun meeting sky, as white feathers darted around them. Then he was gone again, launching back up to return the attack.

"Satoshi…is that really…?" Daisuke stared.

The bluenette squinted at the silhouettes fighting above them. Dread and the oddest combination of other, less predictable emotions were mixing in his sore chest like a bad cocktail.

"Yeah."

**-oOoOoOo-**

**To be continued! **

**I'm so sorry for the long wait! I got married a few weeks ago and the past couple months have been nothing but buildup to and recovery from that. Please let me know what you think!**

**-Kat**


	36. Imposter

_**Last Chapter:**_

_The redhead looked upward. Satoshi's blue eyes followed. Two hawk-like forms were flying in the air above them._

_And they were beating the hell out of each other. Satoshi flinched as a rush of wind brought a body crashing into the floor next to them. The ground shook with the impact, chips of glass rattling on the tile. Vivid gold eyes caught his for just an instant, sun meeting sky, as white feathers darted around them. Then he was gone again, launching back up to return the attack._

_"Satoshi…is that really…?" Daisuke stared._

_The bluenette squinted at the silhouettes fighting above them. Dread and the oddest combination of other, less predictable emotions were mixing in his sore chest like a bad cocktail._

_"Yeah."_

**-oOoO—000—OoOo- oOoO—000—OoOo -oOoO—000—OoOo-**

**Part 36 - Imposter**

"That's seriously Krad?" the redhead gasped, staring above them. He moved his hands away from his friend's shoulders as Satoshi sat up on his own.

Satoshi squinted upward at the two forms harshly silhouetted by the midday sun. His pulse pounded in his ears and reverberated through his aching chest.

"How did he get here?" Daisuke breathed.

"The same way Dark got here," Satoshi muttered. Now that he'd finally reunited with his friend, he was finding it difficult not to be irritated with him. Or maybe it was just the nerve-fraying effect of the ache in his ribs and the sight of the two winged forms tangling ruthlessly above them.

"We can't fight them both," Daisuke realized out loud.

Satoshi shook his head. "I don't think we'll have to." He straightened his glasses with an unsteady hand and stared at the battle above them, trying to decide who was winning.

"We need to get Risa out of that chamber," the redhead said. He was trying to push to his feet, but he was starting to shake. His eyes looked clouded as he stared at his stolen counterpart, because knew that Dark hadn't _really_ been stolen. He'd given him away. Or thrown him away.

_("No, you didn't mean to say it. But you still meant it.")_

The red head pressed his knuckles against his forehead and tried not to panic.

Satoshi glanced at Daisuke and forced his nerves not to be impatient with his friend. He couldn't afford to be mad at Daisuke right now, any more than he could let himself wonder why Krad had come after all. Any emotion seemed dangerous at the moment. "I'll get her. Take cover." He stood up slowly. His ribs screamed at him, but he knew it was just pain. They were no more broken than they were before. He could walk. He let adrenaline drown it all out and paced stiffly toward the chamber where Risa was locked. He checked the skies every couple of steps, watching for gold.

Above them, the white angel threw another burst of power at his other half. Dark's form swerved out of its way and threw a strong airborne kick into his stomach. Krad sank back a few feet in the air, growling. He glared at his counterpart as he regained his bearings. There was a distinct contrast of mood between the two angels. Gorudo was watching the white angel in fascination as Krad rounded up a new blast of energy.

Krad didn't hesitate to throw the new spell point-blank into the other angel's chest. Dark's body jolted with the force, but his recovery was quick. Almost instant. The angel shook off the attack like it hadn't even landed on him and then returned the blast with a beam of violet power. The spell caught Krad in the shoulder, jerking him sideways.

Gorudo gathered energy for another spell, all while staring at Krad like he was some kind of… exhibit.

Krad rolled his shoulder and narrowed his eyes on the black angel. Something was off about his rival's calm exchange of attacks. "None of your obnoxious taunting today, Dark?"

The violet-haired angel considered this, and smiled. His eyes dug into Krad's. "Oh, you must have missed the memo. Dark doesn't live here anymore." He threw a punch at the blonde's head. Krad caught the angel's fist in his palm and wrestled with him in the air. "To explore a more interesting topic," Gorudo leaned toward the angel, "Who exactly are you? Wait," he paused and looked thoughtful, as if combing through a dictionary chained up in his mind. "You must be Krad."

Krad gripped his enemy's fist harder, trapping it. "So you are Gorudo. You actually managed to stick yourself in his soul," he mused, a dark glint coming to his eyes. "Like a child masquerading in a soldier's armor. You barely know how to move under the weight, yet you pretend at strength."

"Amusing," Gorudo said, "But I seem to be moving just fine." He used his other hand to strike the angel in the chest and break contact. He flew above the blonde, drew his hands over his head, and produced a massive black sphere of energy. With both arms, he hurled the power downward.

Krad cursed and threw up a defensive shield as the energy bowled into him. Violet sparks showered around him. He felt the tug of his spell pulling for too much power. Defensive magic was _draining. _ Then Gorudo's spell won out and fired him back to the ground. Krad hit the floor with a resounding crack and skidded into the wall. The marble around him crumbled along with his concentration.

The room faded in and out dangerously. Krad stretched his wings, the only things he could think about moving at the moment. They twitched and folded out, arching around the rest of his body. Violet energy smeared the air surrounding him, as if daring him to get back up.

"Krad!"

Something in the angel's mind switched back on. His gold eyes scanned for the source of the familiar voice. He found the boy standing about twenty feet away. Satoshi was standing before a huge capsule in which Risa Harada appeared to be trapped. The boy seemed frozen mid-step and was looking straight at him. He'd heard panic in the bluenette's voice, and he found himself searching blearily to figure out what was provoking the boy.

"Move!" the bluenette shouted. He waved his arm sharply.

A warning…? Krad stared at the boy uncertainly as a shadow blocked the light above him. He turned his attention upward to find Gorudo looming over him. The black angel didn't appear to have a scratch on him.

That was impossible.

Krad had to acknowledge that he'd just taken a major hit, but he'd gotten some serious attacks in on Dark as well. Moreover, the spell Dark had just used was no minor incantation. There was no way he could be fresh as a daisy after using that much power, not to mention all the smaller spells he'd cast.

The blonde gathered his concentration and pushed himself back to his feet, leaning on the wall more than he wanted to. The ground had barely stopped spinning around him when a tanned fist launched in at his face. Krad knocked the punch wide and formed a golden spear in his other hand, heaving it into Gorudo's side.

The black angel didn't even blink. He sneered into Krad's astonished face and pulled the dagger loose with an empowered laugh. Without hesitation, he raised the still-glowing spell to return the favor. Krad grabbed his wrist before Gorudo could stab him with his own weapon. The golden spear flickered and dispersed. Krad stared at Dark's form. The hole in Gorudo's suit where Krad had just wounded him was dry and clean. "Why aren't you taking damage?" he growled as he wrestled with the billionaire. He gripped the dark angel's wrist tighter and ignited a scalding light between his hand and Gorudo's skin.

There was no reaction to the attack. Instead of laying off, Gorudo formed his own spear of energy and pressed harder, shoving the weapon toward Krad's neck. The angel hissed as he fought the angel muscle against muscle. The spear pricked into the skin near his collarbone, searching for the chance to go farther. He threw all the strength he had into pushing Dark the other way, until his muscles burned. Krad had a variety of advantages over Dark's skills, but if this was going to come down to an arm wrestling match, the day wouldn't end well for the blonde.

Krad gave up ground until he was pounded backward against a wall with the force of Gorudo's weight still driving in on him. Then something flew from the sidelines and clocked Gorudo hard in the side of the head. A metal pocketknife clattered to the floor. The black angel paused his attack to turn his annoyed attention toward Satoshi. The boy had left his post by Risa and was now joined by the redhead.

The billionaire again had that look, like he was poring through someone else's notes. "Interesting that _you, _of all people, would try to save this one. Amusing. But stupid," Gorudo scoffed. He drew a white feather from the air and aimed it at the two former wing hosts.

Krad launched from the wall and tackled him sideways, taking the fight to the floor. The feather dropped harmlessly as the two angels grappled for dominance.

"A little protective, aren't we?" Gorudo chuckled as the angel fought to pin him down.

The blonde ignored his comment. "I didn't come to fight some pathetic narcissist," Krad huffed. "Stop masquerading. Show me Dark."

Gorudo just laughed, almost hysterically, and threw himself over the blonde. His wings stretched out like jaws. "I told you, blondie. Dark doesn't live here anymore," he hissed, power lighting up his violet eyes. "And unfortunately for you, this world has no need for _two_ immortal beings."

"On that, I can agree," Krad said, tugging his arm free and pressing his hand to the angel's chest. All the light in the room seemed to suck into one place. There was a flicker of blackness before a wall of power hurled the black-winged angel across the room and chained him to the floor. Gorudo thrashed against the binding light, but the spell wouldn't let him up. Krad sprawled to his feet, gripping his own chest to adjust to the tremendous power he'd just drained.

Daisuke burst toward the prone violet-haired man. "Dark!"

"Daisuke," Satoshi broke his gaze away from Krad and jerked his friend back sternly. "It's not Dark."

"But he's in there," the redhead nearly screamed, hauling against his friend's grip.

"And he wants you to stay back," Satoshi insisted. He held his friend away from the writhing black-winged form. "He's okay, Daisuke. It's a restraining spell."

"He's not okay!" Daisuke's voice crumbled apart. Tears rolled down the redhead's cheeks, taking Satoshi by surprise. The bluenette loosened his rough grip on his friend. Daisuke stopped pulling, but looking at the redhead's expression was worse than fighting him. "You know as well as I do," Daisuke barely breathed, "That damage is going somewhere."

There was a pause between them. "I know," Satoshi said quietly. He'd hoped Daisuke wouldn't notice. But the whole point of this was to get them out _alive._ "If you want to help Dark, get Risa out of that chamber." He pointed the boy's shoulders toward Risa and gave him a meaningful push. As soon as he was sure the redhead was doing as he asked, his attention snapped back to Krad.

The angel was a few yards away, pale, but standing. His gold eyes caught on Satoshi's as the younger man approached. The details of the fight they'd had earlier blurred into the present, mixing with the scene around them like blood in water. There seemed to be a lot of important questions that neither was willing to ask, so they stood in a silent truce instead. Krad's gaze drifted back to Gorudo. Satoshi's did the same. "How much strength do you have?" Satoshi asked quietly.

The angel frowned, watching Gorudo struggle fiercely against the binding spell. He really wasn't an expert yet on reading his own fuel tank. "Some."

"Show me."

Krad glanced at the boy and slowly lowered his mental shielding, exposing Satoshi to the throbbing, overexposed sensation that was tugging at the back of his brain. The feeling was a warning, but not a critical one. Not yet.

Satoshi shook off the memories that came with that sensation, as well as the wave of concern that followed. "How much power does Dark still have?"

"Less. Probably."

Neither Krad nor Satoshi attempted to draw comfort from the idea. A game of 'burnout chicken' was not on top of the preferred plans list. The consequences of running till the tank ran dry were a lot worse than just agony and delirium. When there was no strength left to call forth, the magic would draw upon its master's life force. That approach would become deadly very quickly. They both looked up as another helicopter passed over, closer than the last. This time, it was no news rig. A federal police helicopter hovered just outside the building. The news aircraft hung in the background, no doubt with cameras rolling. A megaphone was blaring something down at them, but the quality of the noise mixed with the adrenaline-filled echo chamber they were standing in made the idea of responding to police direction feel ridiculous.

The black-winged form on the ground finally began making progress against the golden chains holding it down. Gorudo broke his arms free and thrashed to loosen his legs, looking as energetic and deadly as he had from the start. Only now, he was visibly furious.

Krad grimaced. "Get your friends. Go to the wall and wait."

Satoshi nodded his agreement as he felt Krad's consciousness drop back out of his mind. "Krad… try not to-"

"When I kill him, it will be face to face," Krad confirmed without facing him. He beat his wings and lifted back into the air as Gorudo tore free.

Satoshi cringed as the two angels crashed in the air. Krad tackled Gorudo's form and they slammed as a unit into the wall. A violent flash of energy exchanged between them. Then Krad broke away from the other angel, clutching a shoulder as he beat his wings to gain some distance.

Satoshi knew he couldn't afford to watch, but it was impossible to ignore. He kept an eye on the blonde as he jogged back to where Daisuke was trying to pry open the chamber. The redhead seemed to have shifted his emotion toward a more practical goal as he tugged with all his strength at a weak spot on the latch. Satoshi took hold just above where Daisuke was tugging and heaved at it. His concentration splintered a little as his chest threatened against the movement, but the effort paid off. Both boys staggered as the door finally jerked open.

"Risa!" Daisuke burst in toward the unconscious girl. He cradled her head as Satoshi knelt in front of her.

"Daisuke?" she murmured dizzily, opening her eyes to stare up at her friend. "You're okay." Her expression sank as she visibly recalled what was going on.

"Are you hurt?" Satoshi asked her, trying to judge by her gaze if she had a concussion.

She wrinkled her nose as she thought that one through. Her body stretched carefully, testing itself out. "I think I'm fine," she murmured.

"Can you stand?"

She nodded and squirmed to her feet with the help of both men. A flash of violet drew her anxious gaze toward the ceiling.

"Don't look up," Satoshi advised. He steadied her and pulled her forward. Daisuke lagged a few steps back, trying to follow the fight above them as they made their way toward the relative safety of the wall.

It seemed to take hours to get them all to the edge of the room. Risa and Daisuke immediately threw their attention to the sky, while Satoshi leaned into the wall.

"Are you alright, Sato?" Risa managed to tear her attention from the feuding angels to look at him.

"It should be fine," the boy acknowledged, barely audible over the roar of the helicopters. His heart was pounding so hard it nearly cut off his breath, and he didn't know if it was because of his injuries or the violence taking place above him. He wanted to watch. He _had _to watch. Yet his body resisted it until his breath shook.

A heavy pounding came at the door from the hallway outside. Risa and Daisuke glanced at the bolted door.

"Think that's the police, or Gorudo's men?"

"Doesn't matter. Whoever it is, they'll shoot at the angels if we let them in," Satoshi muttered.

There was consensus among the humans as all three stayed put, none of them willing to take the risk.

Above them, Krad grabbed Gorudo's throat with both hands and forced him back into the wall. Plaster showered down over them. The black angel slugged the blonde in the stomach, forcing Krad to draw back. Gorudo smirked and used the break to kick him in the chest. The white angel cried out and grabbed a fistful of violet hair to keep himself from being thrown backward. He tugged his weight back toward Gorudo and threw a knee into his stomach.

Risa clasped her hands to her chest, too astonished to breathe. Satoshi put a hand on her shoulder and fought his own rushing emotions.

"I've seen them fight so many times before, but…this is different," Risa breathed.

Satoshi took a grim breath and nodded. "They're not holding back." Usually the two angels had a sort of elegance in their battle. This time, it was ugly.

Gorudo caught Krad's leg and twisted it. The angel gasped and let the pressure turn him sideways.

"Getting tired, there, Krad?"

Krad bristled at the stranger's casual use of his name. "Unlike you, I'm fighting with my own skills and strength," he snarled. He wound his hand into a fist and threw it at the black angel's chest.

Gorudo caught his punch and sneered. "The Black Wings' skills _are _my skills. Including everything it knows about you, Krad Hikari." He threw a glowing palm to Krad's breastbone and the blonde went rigid. Power wove through his muscles like static, burrowing toward his heart. Gorudo didn't relent, and Krad couldn't move through the paralyzing shock in his chest. The black angel sneered at the startled pain in his "other half's" expression. He caught Krad by the neck as the angel started to fall and tugged him in close so his mouth almost brushed his ear. "I know exactly what you are, and it changes nothing. With you dead, the Black Wings will exist in me alone, as I intended. I know how you fight. I know what you hate. I know every weakness that Dark Mousy never dared to exploit. He's never had the guts to finish you off. But I do."

Krad's anger won over the pain. He slowly clenched Gorudo's forearm with both hands to ease the pressure in his neck. "Your power is not unlimited, you fool," he rasped. "You will exhaust it. Your wing host will die. And then I will tear your pathetic human body into shreds."

"Tough words for one who has so much to lose."

The words came in and out of focus. "What are you babbling on about now?" the blonde barely gasped. He clawed at the dark angel's arm, growing disoriented from lack of air.

Gorudo smirked at him ruthlessly and threw the blonde's body against the wall, sending debris down on the humans below. His tireless grip continued to crush the angel's throat against the plaster, wrenching a groan from the blonde. "Tell me, Krad," his grin spread like a rash, "Did you really come here to fight your nemesis? Or are you here to protect your wing host?"

Krad's gold eyes lit up fiercely. Anger temporarily cleared the spots in his vision as he realized what the rich bastard was asking. "You mean to tell me you can pluck anything you want to know from Dark's mind, and you still have the gall to ask me that question?"

Gorudo began to smile, but stopped as a hard object struck him in the shoulder. The wrench that had been thrown wasn't enough to hurt him, but it did attract his attention. Satoshi was staring straight at him from the ground, challenging him. "What do you know? The ants are squirming," he scoffed. He used his free hand to send a shot downward at the boy and his friends. Satoshi dove to one side, and Daisuke and Risa dodged the other way. The spell left a crumbling hole in the wall between them.

Krad twisted his neck to see what was happening below.

"A little distracted, are we?" Gorudo teased, tightening his grip on Krad.

The enraged angel stopped wrestling against the man and just focused on piecing together his own spell. A blast of reckless white power blew Dark's frame backward. Gorudo lost his balance in the air and spun backwards. Even with all of Dark's fighting skills at his beck and call, airborne battle required a certain amount of personal experience.

The blonde took his opponent's fumble as a much-needed opportunity to catch his breath. He eased away from the damaged wall and watched his counterpart's form tumble to the ground. The black angel almost brought his descent back under control, but not enough to save him from a good hard landing.

As soon as his head cleared enough to see straight, Krad followed Gorudo to the ground and landed a few feet away from him.

"Not so fast," Gorudo snarled as he staggered to his feet. It was the first sign he'd given yet of tiring at all. The black angel's hand rose to hold Krad at bay with a flickering orb of dark magic.

"Just keep using it up. I can outlast you," Krad said, his sore voice venomous as he stepped toward him.

"A war of attrition?" Gorudo sneered at him. "That sounds awfully dull. Shall we spice things up a bit?" His other hand went to his waist and pulled something from near his belt. A metallic rattle, followed by a click, paused the room. Gorudo's arm extended quite casually to his right and trained a pistol straight on Satoshi's head. The bluenette, backed against the wall near his friends, stiffened with the sudden recognition of absolute danger. Beside him, the others froze and stared at the weapon.

"Gun. Did not expect that," Satoshi murmured shakily.

"Now then, Hikari," Gorudo proclaimed, "Let's see if we can find a real answer to my question."

"What do you think you're doing?" the angel seethed. He kept his eyes on Gorudo, but didn't move.

"Just a little experiment," Gorudo smirked, refining his aim. "You said you're here to fight me, didn't you? So you won't complain if I take care of some business on the side." He stared Krad down as he calmly pulled the trigger.

Krad didn't even hear the gun go off, nor did he perceive anything else that happened in the split second it took Gorudo to relax his finger, for the shell to discharge from the back of the pistol, for Satoshi to flatten himself a little harder against the wall. The angel exploded into a sprint, augmented by magic. He threw all his nerves into focus for a shielding spell and skidded to a stop in front of his wing host just as the magical threads wove tight. The bullet slammed into an invisible wall that flashed as a gold crescent in front of them. Krad held his arms out in a rigid stance as three more bullets sent gold sparks arcing around them. Risa grabbed Daisuke's hand and tugged him a little closer to Satoshi as the angel defended them.

The barrage stopped, and Krad dropped the shield. Satoshi could only stare at the angel's back and the huge wings that fanned toward him. Krad's shoulders were shaking as he fought to take in more air and recover from the highly taxing spell.

"Do you really think you can fight me and protect them at the same time? Awfully arrogant, Krad," Gorudo chided.

"Krad…" Satoshi whispered, urging and warning at the same time.

Krad's muscles wound tight with adrenaline. Why? Why should he protect them? Why should he be in this position at all? This handicap was usually Dark's to shoulder. Not his. He was just here to fight, not to ally with them. Yet Satoshi's pleading voice riled him up, held him to his spot. "I don't like this," he breathed.

Gorudo smiled as if he'd made his point. "That was a nice show, Krad. Let's see an encore." He calmly aimed the weapon and fired.

The shield wasn't quite as complete this time. The leftover shock from the bullet shoved the powerful angel backward toward Satoshi. Krad crossed his wrists in front of him and physically pushed against the impact until his magic finally defused it. As the shield dispersed, his vision blurred.

He didn't register that there were arms around him until several seconds later.

"Krad? Krad!" Satoshi was asking him, straining to hold the angel upright. A wide-eyed Risa and Daisuke hung back against the wall behind him.

The blonde found his own legs and pried his weight off the boy. Gorudo was laughing. Krad's blurry eyes scanned the room for his enemy. Reality was going faster than he could keep up.

"Still think you can 'outlast' me, Krad Hikari?" Dark's voice was gloating. _God, he hated that voice._

"You're out of bullets, you coward," the angel returned sourly. Satoshi released his grip on him as Krad took a hostile step forward. "Now fight properly."

"Oh, but I'm having so much fun," Gorudo sneered, raising a hand and summoning a row of black magical shards. They hovered in the air, gleaming like obsidian. "And look, you're finally getting to bond with your wing host!" With a heave of his arm, he launched the dark spears at Satoshi's chest.

Satoshi stared at the incoming spell and then wheeled on Risa and Daisuke, pulling them between him and the wall. He clenched his eyes firmly and waited.

And waited.

A shadow fell across him, and he heard a sharp intake of breath. From the startled expressions on Risa and Daisuke's faces, they apparently grasped the situation before Satoshi did. The boy slowly opened his eyes and thought about why nothing had hit him. Then he noticed the pale hands leaning against the wall on either side of him.

Satoshi released his grip on his friends and spun around to find himself inches away from his protector's body. The warmth of Krad's chest radiated close to his face. Satoshi's eyes shot wide and looked up. No…this wasn't really happening. The angel was leaning over him against the wall, too close for Satoshi to see his face. "Krad?" He reached around behind the angel's back like he was disarming a bomb, knowing that the attack had connected.

"Don't touch them," the angel's voice splintered along with his breathing. "It's just a trick. Just pain."

"What are you talking about?" Satoshi snapped. He felt along the angel's back for the magical spikes. "There's no blood," he murmured. But the attack had connected, all right. When his hand brushed against one of protruding spears, it throbbed straight to the bone. The boy sucked in a breath and tugged his arm back. When he stared down at his hand, he found no sign of injury whatsoever.

Gorudo had taken a shortcut. The spell wasn't able to cause physical damage. Its only purpose was pain. The idea turned Satoshi's stomach. He was really starting to miss Dark.

Daisuke and Risa didn't have Satoshi's rational composure about the situation. They fanned out on the wall behind him, staring at the wounded angel. Risa looked especially stricken. She couldn't take her eyes off Krad's agonized expression. Her voice was barely a whisper. "Sato, he's…"

"I know," the boy said, shaking out his aching wrist. The nerves were there in his voice, even if they weren't showing on his face. He ignored the angel's order and reached to Krad's back again with both hands. There was no way Krad could fight with those things inside him. The angel offered no additional protest as his former wing host took hold of two of the spears and tugged them out swiftly. They scalded Satoshi's hands into a burning ache, but as soon as they disconnected from Krad's skin, they dispersed into frayed feathers. Krad hissed at him and sagged forward dizzily.

Satoshi didn't drag the process out. He could tell the angel's composure was near a limit. He clenched and unclenched his throbbing hands before going for the next set of spears. Krad's fingers twisted into tight balls against the wall. His breath went ragged, but he remained painfully still as the boy ripped the remaining weapons free. The last spear wrenched a cut-off groan from the blonde that made Satoshi's hair stand on end. The angel sank a little further against the wall, gasping.

Satoshi managed to glance around Krad's too-close form and regain sight of Gorudo. "We can't afford to be a single target. You two, run," he ordered Risa and Daisuke. "Hide by the machines."

Daisuke glanced from Satoshi to Krad. "Satoshi, I'm not sure we should leave you with _him."_

It was Risa who took charge. "Dai, if he says go, then _go!_" she said, staring at the wounded angel as she sidestepped his wings. She dragged the redhead up to his feet and broke for the other side of the room.

The bluenette returned his attention to Krad's tense form braced over him. The telltale crackle of gathering magic caught his attention. He peered under the angel's shoulder at Gorudo. There wasn't time to let Krad recover. He grabbed the blonde by the waist and hauled him sideways as a bolt of energy struck the wall behind them. The two crashed sideways on the ground. Gorudo walked casually toward them. Satoshi winced up at the approaching angel, struggling with the renewed pierce in his ribs. Krad didn't seem able to move. "Krad!" he pleaded with the disoriented blonde. Satoshi grabbed a feather off the ground and shoved it into his hand. "Spell, now!" Gorudo grew closer.

Satoshi threw his inner shields aside and gave the dazed angel a quick shot of the pain in his ribs. The twitch in the angel's already staggered expression made him want to regret it. ***Krad, he's coming!* **He took Krad's arm and raised it in Gorudo's direction.

The angel's pale hand twitched and stiffly clenched around the feather. Gold eyes spun toward the approaching angel and flickered to life. He sought power, and it obeyed him, transforming the feather into a white blade of energy. In the same moment, he thrust the spell at Gorudo's form. The attack lodged firmly below the black angel's shoulder. The lunatic's eyes brightened with shock as he staggered backward and clutched at Krad's spear. It took several fierce tugs to rip the weapon loose. He threw it to the side.

The wound quickly closed up. However, it was clear from Gorudo's frustrated expression that even if he wasn't taking the brunt of the damage, he was finally reaching the point where he was at least partially conscious of the burnout he was causing. He reached out a hand to fire on the blonde before he could rise, but the spell didn't flicker to life quickly enough.

Krad launched to his feet, leaving Satoshi on the ground. He tapped into his reserves to cast a holding spell around Gorudo, trapping the angel in place.

"Release me!" Gorudo snarled, wrestling against Krad's power as the magic pinned him. "You aren't worthy! I'm immortal!"

Krad approached the man. His body was still moving stiffly with the residual ache of Gorudo's attack. "Immortal?" A mirthless laugh rose from his throat. "You're just a coward hiding inside a masterpiece."

"Stay back!" Gorudo's hands clenched tightly and magic gathered around them. However, before he could finish the attack, the power fizzled out suddenly. His violet eyes glared up at Krad.

The angel smiled icily. "Your wing host is at his limit. If you call any more power, his soul with tear itself apart."

The billionaire stared at Krad. "You're trying to fool me."

Krad walked straight up to the black-winged angel and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "I'm saying you can either stop channeling him, or say goodbye to your precious immortality."

Gorudo searched Krad's cold gaze for some sign that the angel was kidding. "What do you mean, channeling?"

"You may have rewired this little _system_ to your own preference, but the basic rules are still the same. His life force is supporting yours. You can let it implode on itself from the burden, or you can let him out. Give him control."

"You must think I'm stupid," Gorudo scoffed.

"I do," Krad acknowledged, hoisting the angel a little further off the ground. "Also, it matters very little to me what you choose. You see, I've waited a very, very long time to destroy that body you're parading in as if it were your mother's makeup." He raised his left hand, and a feather between his fingers transformed into a raging sphere of power. His merciless glare burned into Gorudo's uneasy violet eyes.

"You see, no matter what you choose…I win." The angel's expression held no shadow of hesitation as he completed the spell and hoisted it toward Gorudo's chest.

"Krad, no!" Risa screamed, jumping up from where she and Daisuke were hiding, as if she could possibly get there in time. Daisuke stared with a dry throat, unable to make a sound.

For Krad, the instant passed in microscopic detail. As soon as he thrust his spell forward, the man he was collaring transformed. The wings dispersed, purple hair melted into Gorudo's thin brown ponytail, and that perfectly annoying face shifted back to that of a sharp middle-aged businessman. The only thing that didn't change was the eyes. Dark's eyes. The instant the transformation completed, the man's expression twisted in agony.

Krad's senses screeched to a halt. He narrowed his eyes and dispersed the attack he was throwing into a shower of defused sparks. His hand stopped just short of his opponent's chest. The air hung heavy and still between them. "Dark," he addressed Gorudo's form quietly. He slowly released the man's collar.

The angel's counterpart met his eyes and slowly recognized him. His cheeks were wet and his skin pale. "Krad..." The thief's expression twitched with effort as he spoke, his irises expanding in and out of focus. "I heard…you call…me a masterpiece." His shaking voice didn't match his teasing words.

"Don't get cocky about it," Krad warned.

Dark offered the blonde a defiant look and collapsed to his knees. He clutched his left shoulder with one arm and gripped the other firmly across his chest. He didn't have enough hands to hold everything that was hurting him right now, and it showed. "Lousy fight," he strained.

Krad grimaced at the apologetic tone. "Yes."

"That spell…I didn't-"

"Shut up. I know that already."

Dark winced his eyes shut and shook his head as if Krad's voice was literally piercing his brain.

"Is that really Dark?"

Krad followed the voice over his shoulder to see Daisuke and Risa moving cautiously toward them from their spot by the machines.

Before they could approach further, a deafening crash of metal resounded through the room. The door to the hall slammed open, dropping straight from its hinges. A crowd of Gorudo's Special Ops forces swarmed into the room. "He's here," one of them shouted, waving the others in.

Daisuke and Risa pulled their arms up defensively. Satoshi threw himself lower against the floor.

The soldiers assumed offensive positions and trained their weapons at Krad and the others. "Protect Mister Gorudo. Get rid of the rest!"

The men took aim, but didn't fire. A violet aura surrounded the squad members, holding them at bay. Krad's attention shot to Dark. "What the hell are you doing?" he whispered, "You don't have the strength to-"

"I know." Dark raised his head to look at Krad. His eyes were so deeply ablaze that it was difficult to read any expression off his face. His entire body was shaking. "Get them out." His nose began to bleed. _"…Please."_

That last word, spoken so desperately, made the blonde's gut go cold.

"Dark!" Risa gasped. Both she and Daisuke lost focus on the soldiers and burst forward to close the distance between them and the angels. They were almost to the phantom thief's side when Krad rose and turned toward them. The blonde leveled his gaze on them as they approached. He reached out and clotheslined them roughly across the waists. The impact halted their momentum, knocking the wind out of them. The two humans had to fight to catch their breath as the angel hauled them off the ground, one under each arm, and carried them in the opposite direction.

"Krad, put me down!" Daisuke was the first to find his voice. "I have to stay with him. _Put me down!"_ The redhead fought with the angel's iron grip desperately. "Let go. Damn it, _Let go!_" Tears streamed down his face as Dark grew further and further away.

"Krad, please! He's hurt!" Risa wrestled with the angel's arm. Her eyes were frozen on Dark's bent form.

Satoshi pushed himself up on one elbow as Krad passed with his friends in tow. The angel didn't break pace. Dai and Risa exchanged a startled look with their friend as they passed him. They didn't know whether they were being rescued or attacked, but apparently the angel was leaving Satoshi behind.

Krad beat his wings and lifted off, flying his struggling cargo up through the hole in the ceiling. He circled in the air and came nose to nose with the police helicopter. The side doors were open, and the men inside were getting ready to drop down into the room. Instead, they wound up scrambling backwards to draw their weapons as the white-winged version of Dark swooped inside. The men hesitated when Krad dropped his two humans unceremoniously on the floor of the aircraft. The angel sized them up and turned to leave.

"Not so fast!" One of the men shouted, cocking his weapon. "You aren't going anywhere."

Krad looked over his shoulder at the cops. "There's still one left." He said it coldly, as if it would simply be a nuisance to leave the thing unfinished, but his eyes glinted with restless energy. It was a convincing look. Maybe that was why the men held their fire as he dove back out of the hovering vehicle.

"Hold our position!" someone shouted to the pilot as others pulled the disoriented civilians further away from the open door. Risa and Daisuke ignored the questions of the crew as they stared at the open door and waited. It seemed to be taking far too long.

Below, Krad darted back through the ceiling and into the giant ballroom. The soldiers were still frozen in place. The angel spotted Satoshi kneeling in front of Dark. He seemed uninjured. Krad pushed his wings a little faster as he approached and dropped next to the boy.

Satoshi was so caught up in watching Dark that he didn't notice the angel land. Dark was the one whose determined eyes first rose to acknowledge the blonde, though he was too focused on his spell to speak. The nosebleed was pouring down his too-pale throat and into the collar of Gorudo's expensively tailored suit.

Satoshi slowly followed Dark's gaze to the angel next to him. The tension in the boy's shoulders shifted like he'd just woken from a nightmare. "You came back."

Krad hesitated, taken back by the hurt in Satoshi's expression. "Three at once is too much," he trailed off. "We're going." He held out his hand.

Satoshi rose to face the angel without a word, avoiding his eyes. As he took Krad's hand, the blonde pulled him in securely and drew him up off the ground.

Krad looked down at his nemesis. Dark met his eyes firmly. The phantom thief was barely alert under the crushing expense of his spell, but it was clear he intended to hold Gorudo and his men off until they were out safely…if he could.

The blonde offered his counterpart a short nod, and then burst upward with Satoshi toward the safety of the skies. He could hear bullets whizzing past them as they cleared the ceiling, but the men were too late to stop them. He turned in the air and beat his wings to get them back to the helicopter. Things blurred a little as he gave the extra effort to align himself with the open flank of the aircraft and land inside. That made two days in a row that he was too burned out to fly properly. The thought didn't please him.

The airdrop team was everywhere, asking questions and corralling him further inside the cabin. Krad was too tired to make sense of their fussing, and too stubborn to release his possessive grip on his blue-haired cargo.

"Holy crap…. Commander Hiwatari?" one of the men finally placed Satoshi. "We've been trying to reach you all day!"

"My phone…got lost yesterday," Satoshi said from the angel's arms. Probably best not to tell them just yet that it actually went off a cliff into the ocean, along with his car.

"Sir…do you know this…._this_?" another uniform demanded, regarding the blonde uncertainly.

"Yes. He's with me," Satoshi said. It was awkwardly accurate right now, while the angel was gripping him like a flotation device. Not that he was really up to standing on his own at the moment. "I'm sorry I didn't get you involved sooner. We got a lead on Mousy, and we had to move.

"You vandalized a police vehicle?"

"It was the fastest way to get you here," the angel dismissed.

The attention went back to the blonde. "That was you? But didn't you say you were going to steal Dark?"

"Pft. I am not a thief," Krad said in disgust.

"But… your note-"

"Got your attention. We couldn't trust the local police," Satoshi cut in before the feds managed to rekindle Krad's violent side.

"And these two?" The cop gestured to Daisuke and Risa, who were looking shell-shocked on a bench at the rear of the cabin.

"Wrong place and wrong time," Satoshi said. "I promise to make a full report, but several of us are injured, and a bunch of dirty corporate goons are still down there."

"Sir…Look, we can't just send you home."

"You mean you won't send _him _home," Satoshi pointed out sharply, gesturing at the white angel whose wingspan was forcing the men to give them a wide berth in the confined space.

"Well, yes. We have no evidence to detain you, but he's obviously another…whatever Mousy is. And we all saw two shapes using powers down there, not just one."

Satoshi narrowed his eyes. From their wording, it sounded like the cops hadn't gotten a full view of everything that happened, which meant they might not know everything.

"I told you, he's with me. I can explain it all later. Look, Dark is escaping as we speak, and you have Gorudo and a whole room full of conspirators down there who might be able to tell you where he's headed and why he was here in the first place."

There was silence in the cabin.

"He's right," one of the men finally said. "We need to focus on apprehending Dark." Satoshi let out a breath of relief. They didn't know about Gorudo.

"Alright," the head of the unit sighed, rubbing his forehead with his thumbs. "Joe, tell the men on the ground that Dark has been sighted inside the building, and they have warrant to search the premises. These folks need medical attention, and we can do all the interviews we want _after _we lose Dark's trail. Commander, we'll let you lot off on the ground so we can get back to the operation. But the angel goes under house arrest. We'll need to interview all of you in the morning. Until then, he doesn't leave your _sight._ That work for you, commander?" he asked Satoshi.

"Yes," the bluenette confirmed. Krad was silent.

"Alright," the man told the pilot. "Take 'er down." He looked back to Risa and Daisuke. "I'll call you lot an ambulance."

"We'll take care of it ourselves. You have enough to do," Satoshi stopped him.

It was an awkward five minutes as the copter circled around and touched down on an open field next to the skyscraper.

"Krad…you can put me down," Satoshi said quietly.

The angel released him without a word and waited as the copter eased about a foot off the ground. Daisuke and Risa jumped off first, followed by Satoshi and, finally, Krad. Then the aircraft was off again in a blast of wind. "…What about Dark?" Risa barely murmured as they were left alone on the roof.

"His men think he's Gorudo. Once things settle down, they'll probably put him in a hospital," Satoshi said.

"Will that even help him?"

"…Probably."

The girl swallowed and looked down for a moment, composing herself. When she looked back up, it was toward Krad. "Do _you _need a hospital?" she asked him quietly.

The angel's gaze jerked to meet hers. "No." He looked a little unnerved by her concern.

She glanced at his bleeding shoulder, but didn't press the issue. "Thank you…for protecting Satoshi."

Krad's expression darkened. "I didn't-" _("If you keep saying things like that to him, he'll believe you.")_ Jirou's presumptuous words itched at his mind. He didn't finish his sentence, though they were all staring at him. The angel's anger dissolved into nervous frustration.

Risa raised an eyebrow at the angel's mercurial behavior and the way Satoshi was just staring at him. "What happens now?"

Satoshi looked out at the helicopters circling Gorudo Corp and the sea of blue and red lights gridlocking the street outside of it. He took the deepest breath his ribs would allow.

"For now…we go home."

**-oOoO—000—OoOo- oOoO—000—OoOo -oOoO—000—OoOo-**

**To be continued!**

**MUAHAHAHA!**

**Thank you all so much for the warm wishes! I'm settling in now and getting back to writing. I think this is the longest chapter so far. Whee violence! I'm out of practice with fight scenes, so I hope the pacing came out alright! Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think!**

**Love,**

**Kat**


	37. Shields Down

**Part 37 – Shields Down**

The cacophony of sirens, engines, and megaphones was an odd accompaniment to the otherwise beautiful weather. Inside Hattori's van, the vet was fiddling with a slinky that had been in his glove compartment. He let it slide from hand to hand and gazed up at the sea-blue sky in absolute boredom, while Riku compulsively checked the windows and mirrors on a near-constant basis for signs of the others returning. The clock on the dashboard flashed 4:00 PM. It had already been too long. The thought that their friends might not make their rendezvous to the van was a difficult, but imposing possibility.

"I'm calling Risa," Riku muttered.

"You'll blow their cover," Hattori warned, dropping the slinky into the bench seat next to him. "Just give them time."

"Wait… I see them!" Riku finally gasped as she spotted the group approaching the car from outside.

Hattori dropped the slinky and leaned over to check the mirror and confirm for himself. He smirked. "And I'll be damned. Birdman Number Two is out there with them.

"What?" Riku looked back to take another look. The blonde angel wasn't moving with his usual supernatural grace, making him almost look ordinary amidst the others. She hadn't even noticed him at first. "What happened?" she whispered, scrambling to gather her crutches.

"Hey, you can stay put. I'll let them in," Hattori warned, putting a hand on one of the crutches.

"Thanks, but I need to see him," Riku insisted. She turned to open the door just as it was pulled wide from the opposite side.

"Riku," Daisuke said, taking deep breaths as he stared at his girlfriend. "Oh, thank God. I was so worried!" He took everything about her in as if he hadn't seen her in years. "Your ankle…"

Her eyes started to water. "I'm the one who was worrying! You idiot!"

Daisuke took a step forward as she threw her arms around his shoulders. He pulled her in tight and closed his eyes. "I'm sorry." They stood locked together, half in and half out of the van.

Riku focused on his warmth, convincing herself he was real. The comfort of his embrace pulled apart the careful composure she'd worn for the past week. It was easy to be strong when there was no other option, but now she was horrified to feel herself shaking with tears as she held onto him for dear life.

The door on the other side of the van slammed as Hattori got out to meet the others. Satoshi was walking up to him as he got out, with Risa close behind. "There's a lot of press lurking around. We need to get out of here quickly," the bluenette said. His mood seemed frayed.

The vet nodded as he slid open the door to the side of the van. "Was it a success?"

Satoshi paused before responding. His tone was uneasy as he answered "Yes."

Hattori turned a suspicious look on the boy, but decided he could wait for the details. "Is anyone hurt?"

"Yes," the boy confirmed again as he guided Risa inside. The girl didn't make eye contact with either of them as she climbed into the van.

"Who?"

"Mostly, Krad." Satoshi drew a tense breath and crossed his arms like he wasn't sure what to do with them.

Hattori cocked his head to the side at the bluenette's anxious demeanor. "Think you can drive?"

"Yeah."

The vet nodded and clapped a hand lightly on the boy's shoulder as he passed him the keys. "Alright. I'll see what I can do." He raised his voice to the other side of the van, where Daisuke and Riku were still hugging it out. "Alright, lovebirds, we need you both inside."

He turned his gaze straight ahead as the blonde stepped into view from behind the van. The vet's trained eyes gave a cursory inspection of the angel's injuries. Krad approached the vehicle as if he were facing a firing squad. His dull bronze eyes sized up the vet when he reached the door. Hattori couldn't tell if the look was a warning or just the product of exhaustion. He took a step back and gave the angel space as he stepped into the vehicle.

Krad navigated himself to the back corner of the van. Risa already happened to be in the adjacent corner, but it was the least populated spot available to him in the crowded vehicle. The girl's wide brown eyes followed him, but at least she was quiet. He sat down against the back wall and gathered his wings behind him in a stiff, slow movement. The van shifted as Hattori climbed in.

"What about the other one?" the vet asked, miming a pair of wings with his fingertips.

Krad frowned at him. Risa's gaze dropped back to the floor. The van was too quiet.

"We couldn't bring him," Satoshi said.

Riku and Hattori both turned to stare at the bluenette. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Don't tell me you just left him-" Hattori cut off as a short sob finally escaped from Risa. The girl spread a hand over her face and held her breath tight. The vet looked at her and then back at the front of the vehicle. The redhead boy's composure didn't look too much better. "—Okay. Let's just go then." He slid the door shut behind him.

The engine turned. They were backing up. Then the van pulled forward and turned out into the sea of cars that were rubbernecking the chaos outside.

Risa's shoulders shook, but she managed to keep back her sobs as they slowly left the Gorudo Corporation behind. Hattori moved toward the back of the van and set a box of tissues next to her. She nodded, but didn't take them. The vet sighed. Considering that the mission had been successful, the atmosphere inside the van was positively morose.

"Alright. Krad, was it?" he directed his attention to the blonde. The angel's shoulder was gashed open and blood was trailing down his bare torso. The hand Hattori had bandaged just the night before, while the angel was out cold, also looked worse than when it started. By comparison, the other cuts and bruises seemed like a walk in the park. "How about letting me have a look at that?" He started rolling up his sleeves.

Krad's glare didn't frost the windows this time, but it was still enough to make the vet pause and consider him a moment.

"Look. I get it. You've got some control issues. However, I'd like to civilly point out that _you are bleeding your creepy birdman blood all over my van."_

Krad straightened a little and studied him as if _he_ were the one who belonged to some alien species. "I do not require your… help."

"Like hell you don't," Hattori said, reaching for the angel's arm. Krad pulled back, and his dull eyes glowed for a moment, warning that he could still attack.

"Believe me, I understand. You're a precious unique snowflake and you have trust problems. But that won't change the fact that you're hemorrhaging on my upholstery."

Daisuke took this opportunity to glance back over the front seat at the vet. The boy looked astonished, or impressed. Or both. "Who _are _you?" he murmured.

"I'm a veterinarian who's going to go soccer-mom up in here, unless this feather-brain holds still!" the vet warned Krad. "Don't make me pull this van over. We can wait on the shoulder all day. Maybe sing some showtunes to kill time."

The thought of being in the van with them any longer than necessary provoked a wave of dizziness in the wounded angel. "Give me the bandage, and I will take care of it."

"It takes two hands to wind a bandage. Besides, you don't have my expertise," Hattori challenged.

"You're a _veterinarian!_" Krad corrected.

"Krad, you're really bleeding," Riku said very cautiously from the front seat. She and the redhead were staring at him.

Gold eyes dipped down to meet hers. "I… will be fine." He had no idea what to make of her concerned expression. "All of you can mind your own business.

Hattori cast the angel an impatient smirk. "Fine. Pull over, kid. We're having ourselves a sing along."

"Krad! Hold still!" Satoshi barked harshly from the driver's seat.

The angel went quiet. Risa glanced over at Krad and blinked her bleary eyes to focus on him. _Why…? Because Satoshi said so? Come to think of it, why was Krad here at all?_ She managed to take her mind off Dark for a second as confusion took over.

Krad seemed frozen in place as he looked at the vet. "Do as you wish." He relaxed his aggressive stance and submitted the body he'd worked so hard to acquire to the stranger's touch.

Hattori smirked approvingly and crawled to the angel's side with a bottle of salve. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing. Fair warning, this will burn at first."

The angel didn't react as the fizzing liquid poured over his bleeding shoulder. He didn't meet the gaze of any of the humans watching him as Hattori took a closer inspection of the wound and put pressure on it with a gauze pad. He was very aware of the hard steel boundary between him and the outside world, and the fact that he probably couldn't overpower five humans if he needed to right now.

Unwanted hands supported his arm and spread open his sticky palm. He tried not to think about Midnight's basement. The wounds didn't bother him as much as the contact. It was becoming hard to focus. How could the boy wish this on him? Why was he obeying? Trying to think straight just made the ideas unravel more.

Krad's complexion gradually lost all of its color, but he was too drained to truly panic. If they wanted to attack him, they'd have done it already. He just breathed deeply and closed his eyes to calm his swirling vision. Hattori didn't miss the angel's disorientation. He made his touch lighter, but it didn't seem to help. "Is there anywhere else?" he asked Krad as he carefully washed the blonde's palm.

"No," the angel barely breathed.

"You're sure?" The vet glanced him over suspiciously while Krad seemed traumatized beyond response.

"Satoshi, what aren't you telling me?" Hattori asked as he finished wrapping the angel's hand. Krad didn't even look at him when he put a palm to the blonde's forehead. "He shouldn't be this out of it."

"He just used too much magic. He's burned out." Satoshi called back.

Hattori turned and looked toward the bluenette. "Yeah? How exactly do you recharge him? I have some IV bags left."

Satoshi peered at Krad in the rearview mirror and almost forgot to look back at the road. Something in his chest jumped as he recognized the way the angel had looked after his time with Midnight. Krad was just being stubborn, right? He couldn't actually be afraid? Protective fear knotted his throat. "No. Just give him some space."

"But he's-"

"Give him space."

Hattori knitted his brows as he caught the urgency in the boy's tone. He slowly backed away from his patient until he was watching the angel from just behind the driver's seat. Krad opened his eyes to look at him, and then glanced down to survey the neat wrapping on his hand. They were all still watching him, but at least they weren't so close. He leaned his head back against the wall of the van and tried to rebuild his composure. Thankfully, no one said anything else to him. Hattori eventually called Risa over so he could have a look at the bump on her head, and the humans quietly filled each other in on the details of what had just happened inside the building.

When the van finally pulled to a stop in the parking lot outside Satoshi's apartment, Satoshi and Daisuke immediately got out. Daisuke helped Riku with her crutches, while Satoshi went for the side door and slid it open. Hattori and Risa climbed out, taking supplies with them. Krad opened his eyes to find himself alone in the van. His former wing host was watching him quietly from the doorway, silhouetted by bright afternoon light. The two stared each other down.

"You don't want to be here, do you?" Satoshi asked.

It was as if the boy's voice had pinned him to the back of the van. "Of course not," he shot back. It took effort to finally move away from the wall and make his way to the door. With a stiff extension of limbs, he climbed out to stand facing Satoshi. The boy wasn't making eye contact.

"I won't force you. If you need to go, then go," Satoshi said.

The angel's eyes narrowed on him. That hadn't been what he expected to hear. He hesitated. What reason did he have to stay? He tilted his head upward to scan the open sky above him.

Satoshi watched Krad's longing expression, and then dropped his own gaze to the ground. Krad wasn't going to stay. And Satoshi wasn't willing to force him. Not like this. The boy shut the door to the van and locked it. He had absolutely no idea what to say in parting to the angel. Maybe it was better not to say anything. His nerves coiled with a surprising ache. _No. Don't drag it out. _He took a deep breath and turned toward his apartment.

"Did you not agree to keep me under house arrest?"

Krad's voice nailed the boy to the pavement. Satoshi didn't look back at him. "I have no desire to imprison you," he said. "I never did."

"Everything okay over there?" Hattori called from the doorway.

Satoshi focused on Hattori's confused expression and waited another moment or so. Just in case. The angel didn't argue any further.

"Just try not to draw attention to yourself," Satoshi finally murmured. He made his legs move and walked toward his door.

Hattori stood aside to let him in. "Birdbrain coming?"

Satoshi's expression was blank. "No."

The vet glanced back at the angel. "You okay with that, birdbrain?"

Krad glared at the man and the open door next to him. He squashed the frantic feeling rising inside him as Satoshi walked away. He could leave. This was what he wanted. Cold conviction replaced the doubt in his posture. He took a step back, wings raised for flight. Satoshi was already disappearing into the apartment as the angel turned away and burst into the air.

Hattori crossed his arms and watched Krad rise up above the line of rooftops and out of sight. "You sure it's okay to let him go off like that?" he asked the boy as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"What? Krad's gone?" Riku asked from the couch.

Daisuke was holding her hand securely as he looked up at his friend. "He got away?"

Satoshi went straight for his cupboards and pulled out a large box of spaghetti. "I let him go."

"Is that safe?" the redhead asked.

The bluenette set a pair of tomato cans a little too hard on the counter. "He saved our lives. He can do as he chooses. New topic."

Riku and Daisuke looked at each other.

"There goes my only hope of getting a good look at those wings. Though I probably would have had to knock him out to keep him still enough to research," Hattori lamented.

"Hattori!" Riku scolded under her breath.

"What? I've had feral cats accept treatment more calmly than that dude."

"That's not the point," Riku sighed.

"Is he—you know—okay to just go off like that?" Risa asked quietly. It felt awkward to voice concern for the white angel, but it also felt like a lot of rules had changed in the last few hours.

"Pft. He'll be fine, as long as he doesn't get himself caught or fly into any huge shiny windows."

"We have other things to deal with. Hattori, loan me your cell phone," Satoshi interrupted. "And boil some water.

"Whoah, if you think that I can cook just because I'm in a caretaking profession, you're about to be terrifically disappointed," Hattori warned as he passed off his phone to the boy.

"Just start it," Satoshi said, barely breaking stride as he took the phone into the next room.

Silence filled the living room, punctuated by haphazard clashes and clangs as Hattori dug through the bluenette's cabinets for an appropriate pot. Daisuke looked especially confused as he turned to Riku and Risa for some sort of clarification. "Satoshi seems a little… off."

"It's been a stressful week for all of us. He'll talk when he's ready," Risa said. She frowned and thought about Satoshi's protective reaction in the car. Was Satoshi the only one who couldn't see it?

Daisuke nodded, not because the situation felt any better, but because she was right. None of them were really okay, and there was no immediate way to fix it. The redhead leaned back a little on the couch and felt something prick him. He reached his hand behind his back and pulled the object from between the cushions. A black feather, as soft as it was sharp, lay in his palm. He curled his fingers around it carefully. "He was here," he murmured.

"For a little while, while he was recovering," Risa said.

"Recovering?" Daisuke's eyes were full of shadows as he looked at his girlfriend.

Riku looked down at the feather in his hand and thought of the right words to use. "He never really explained it to us, but after he broke the seal, when he crossed back to earth, he was in pretty bad shape."

"Bad shape? Try 'dead'," Hattori remarked as he lit a burner.

"Tact!" Riku barked at him.

"You people are all about tact, aren't you?" he griped.

Daisuke looked at the feather and thought of the one he'd kept in that envelope for the past few years, and the note he'd written with it. _Don't forget. _"I forgot him. He was connected to me all this time, and I never even looked for a link to him. I assumed he was gone. I didn't try to reach him. I wanted to move on."

"Daisuke, it's only natural to want closure after somebody leaves. Sometimes you have to let go in order to focus on the present," Riku argued.

"He didn't let me go. He stayed behind that wall, where I put him, and when I got in trouble, he almost killed himself breaking through it to help me."

"No, Daisuke. The seal was his own doing. You didn't put him there, and you're not the thing that hurt him."

"Well, he's sure as hell hurting _now._"The redhead's voice shuddered against his thin composure. "I may have been uninhibited because of Trap's machines when I said it, but some part of me really believed it would be best for us to be separated. Even though I swore to him that I would remember him. The look in his eyes when I said those things to him… I'll never…"

"We'll fix it," Risa said firmly. "There were plenty of mistakes on multiple sides, but we'll fix it all."

Her resolute voice suddenly had everyone's attention. Riku looked cautiously hopeful as she said, "But how? Dark is stuck inside that creep's body, and even if we had one of those machines, we'd have no idea how to use it."

The door to the bedroom clicked open, and Satoshi walked back in to join them. "I've requested police protection for the night. Gorudo knows who we are. He may try to make a move amidst all the chaos."

"Police are staying in here?" Riku asked.

"They'll be in the parking lot. They'll only move if someone intrudes on the apartment from outside."

"Let me get this straight," Hattori leaned forward on the counter. "You're depending on the _police _as effective protection against _Dark Mousy._ I think I'll be safer in my condo."

"I think you should stay here. I don't know how much Gorudo's security will be able to put together as far as your van. We're safest together, at least for tonight," Satoshi said.

The vet raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you say that Dark's weak right now?"

"Gorudo won't care about that, and Dark doesn't have any control in that body. If Gorudo wants to attack, he will."

Daisuke's hand tightened around the feather he was holding. "He doesn't care how much strain his actions put on Dark, and all the normal safety mechanisms are gone. Dark has no way to fight back or take over if things get too serious. He's just going to be stuck at that bastard's mercy." The thought of the angel living like that made him sick. "We have to switch the link to the way it was."

"Again, exactly how are you supposed to do that?" Hattori reminded him.

The sound of the doorbell made all of them jolt. Satoshi froze, and slowly headed for the door. The thought of finding Krad on the other side raised a frustrating pang in his chest. "It's probably just the cops," he reminded them all as he turned the bolt and opened it.

His jaw gave up on what he'd been about to say. He stared at his visitors in tense confusion.

"Yo," a familiar female voice greeted him. "Make some room." Her companion, unsteady on his feet and leaning on her for balance, afforded Satoshi a wary look as she led him forward without waiting for the boy's invitation. The rest of the room fell into confused silence as the two figures crossed the threshold.

"—**Trap?"**

"I know this is a little sudden," Shira said. Her eyes sought out Risa like she was the only life raft on the Titanic. "You said to come here if I needed help."

"You," Risa said firmly. "Not him." She looked over the scientist with a critical stare. "What happened to him?" She didn't look sympathetic, nor did the rest of the room.

"He was shot when I broke him loose from HQ."

"You went back for him? After everything he did?" Risa scolded, not caring that they would have no idea why she had overheard everything Shira and Dark talked about.

"That place was crawling with police. How did you manage to get in?" Riku demanded.

"Are you kidding? With all those idiots running around, I practically walked right in. Then Trap wasn't in his office, so I did some snooping. Actually, I used a route Dark showed me. In the ceilings. I found where they were keeping him, but one of the SO's guarding him managed to get a shot off when I broke him out."

"So you got shot by your own team trying to save your own skin. We don't care," Riku said to Trap firmly, coming to her sister's side.

"No," Shira said. "You don't understand. The ass was shooting at _me_. Trap grabbed for the barrel." She shook her head. "Rookie mistake. Saved my life though."

Riku looked him over and took a better look at the way Trap's hand was hidden inside his lab coat.

"Wait just a second," Daisuke managed to interject, "You all know each other?"

"Barely," Satoshi asserted coldly. "And if you two haven't noticed, we're at full occupancy. Not to mention the fact that you caused this mess in the first place."

"Seriously," Riku confirmed. "You really thought this would be the best place to hide from Gorudo?"

"You clearly do," Shira challenged.

Daisuke stood up next to Riku. "Maybe we should help them," he said carefully.

"Look, Dai, I'm giving you a pass for everything else that's happened, but defending Trap is taking your Stockholm complex a little too far," Satoshi growled.

"I know…" Daisuke murmured, flushing as he remembered Dark again. "But weren't we just saying we needed to understand the science in order to bring Dark back?"

"He has a point," Riku conceded.

"Which brings me to my pitch," Shira said, shouldering the dizzy scientist's weight. "Look, it's true we did a lot of things, but neither of us wanted what happened in that room. If you'll help us, we can help you."

The girls and Daisuke looked to Satoshi uncertainly. The boy looked distracted, like he was literally returning from some other place in his mind as he checked back in to the conversation. They were all waiting for him to make the decision. He took a composing breath and studied the pair who had kidnapped his best friend. He felt no trust for these two, regardless of what Dark's opinion of them had been. And yet, they would need these people if they expected to get Dark away from Gorudo. Even that much seemed like a questionable move. Dark had played his cards, and it didn't seem wise to invite more danger by trying to re-deal. That was the obvious logic.

However, the others would never agree to leave things as they were, and even Satoshi found it difficult to stomach the idea of leaving Dark in that body. Daisuke was close with his angel. Even if the bluenette wasn't a fan of the thief, there was no reason to abandon Dark to that psychopath's cruelty if there was still another way.

There was no reason _all_ of them had to be alone.

Satoshi took off his glasses and rubbed between his eyes mercilessly. "You can stay. No cell phones, no outside communications. And if you expect to use our vet, you'd better believe you're paying your own tab."

"Your _what?_" Trap asked, barely coherent.

"I'm expensive," Hattori informed them with a sinister smile as he approached the pair. "Sit him down, and let's have a looksee.

Risa and Daisuke stepped out of the way as Shira guided the scientist to the couch. Satoshi dropped his gaze and disappeared into his own room. Risa watched him leave, and followed a moment after. He was standing in front of his dresser with an aimless stare when she walked in behind him.

"Sato?" she said, closing the door behind her.

He glanced at her. "Yes?" He hooked his thumbs in his pockets, but his fingers fidgeted restlessly like they couldn't find where they were supposed to be.

"I just came to see if you were okay," she said, taking a few steps toward him.

Satoshi shook his head carefully. "Fine."

"You let Krad go."

"I told you, he saved our lives," the boy started up defensively. He flashed to the image of Krad's pain-bent body standing like a shield over him.

"No… I know that," she eased a step forward. "I'm just surprised you let him leave. I thought you might be upset—"

"Well, I'm not."

The coldness in his voice made her frown. "Satoshi, please don't be like this. It's okay to be hurt. I just want to help."

"I don't want help! I want to stop thinking about it."

"Are you ever going to learn that keeping problems secret doesn't make them go away?" Risa's arms straightened angrily at her sides.

"Are you sure you aren't trying to push your attention on to me in order to avoid coping with your own feelings?" Satoshi returned.

Her posture loosened, and she was very quiet. Satoshi was about to soften his words when she finally said "I might be." She walked up to him and sat on his bed, next to where he was standing. "I'm scared, Sato. When I think about the expression on his face when that machine fired up… I've never, ever seen him look like that."

Satoshi turned toward her. His expression thawed a little. _Dark. _ "You still care about him," he acknowledged quietly.

Her lip trembled. She looked down at the carpet. "No! I mean, I don't want to. I mean I tried—it was okay when he was sealed and there was no—…Oh god, I'm so sorry!" Tears ran freely down her cheeks. "I can't believe myself."

It stung, but not in the way he'd expected. He'd known her feelings for Dark when he started dating her, and he'd known they never changed. He'd almost thought of it as a convenience, since he had his own boundaries about commitment also. But was that really a healthy relationship? Eventually, it had to come down to something like this. He sat down next to her and put an arm carefully around her shoulder. The contact didn't make him feel better, but it seemed appropriate. His thoughts kept racing between what was happening here in front of him and everything else that week. All the moments, all the warnings that had led up to this. No—It hadn't just been this week.

Satoshi gave them both some time to get their thoughts straight. "Do you want to be with him?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I don't know," she said. She meant it. "I don't know what I want. I just know I shouldn't be able to think these things, if I'm really where I'm supposed to be."

His chest felt thick. Things were changing. The lives they'd pursued for the last two years were changing, right in these few dense seconds. "What should we do, then," he proposed quietly.

She looked up at him. "Sato, I don't think either of us can really focus on this relationship any more."

He set his jaw and nodded carefully.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"It's fine," he said, squeezing her shoulder and dropping his hand to the mattress. "We'll be fine." It had been coming for a long time. Maybe he'd always known this was coming. He was no good at getting close to people. He was good at letting them go.

A knock came at the door. Riku poked her head in. "The spaghetti's ready, guys," she said. "Everything okay in here?"

Satoshi pushed to his feet. Reality was calling. "Fine," he confirmed. "We're coming." He looked down at Risa soberly. "Come whenever you're ready." He took a deep breath and headed to the open door. "And Risa," he looked over his shoulder as he reached the doorway, "We'll find a way to get him back."

The evening was busy, and awkward. By the time dinner was cleaned up and the chaotic reunion finally began to quiet down, it was already past 9:00. Risa wound up asleep on the couch, and Shira, without a real job to do, gave herself one by keeping watch outside the front door. Hattori was watching the news on TV, enjoying the highly confused coverage various stations were attempting for the day's events. No one had any clue how to interpret the chaos at Gorudo headquarters, or what the warning Krad had left really meant.

The hour left Daisuke, Riku, Satoshi, and Trap sitting at the kitchen island, debating strategy. The scientist was steadier now that his hand was wrapped up, but there was only so much that could be done without an emergency room and a pharmacy. It had to be agonizing, but it didn't seem to stop him from offering quiet, matter-of-fact answers to every direct question presented to him.

"So you would need the machines, no matter what?" Daisuke asked him.

"Yes. At the very least, I need the one that was next to you during the procedure."

"What about the big glass thing Dark was stuck in?"

"That was a restraint only. I am not saying you won't need to restrain Gorudo if you expect to do this, but the capsule is not necessary for the machine to work."

"Okay, so all we have to do is somehow get one of these machines, lure Gorudo out to us alone, subdue him, and reverse the process?"

Trap squinted uncertainly at the boy he'd imprisoned, but said "Yes."

"Okay!" Daisuke clapped his hands together. Then his expression fell. "How do we do that?"

Riku rolled her eyes. "Any ideas, Satoshi?"

The bluenette glanced up from the tabletop.

"Satoshi? Is everything okay? You seem really out of it tonight," Daisuke said worriedly. "And that's coming from _me._"

"It's fine. I'm fine," the boy said carelessly. He blocked off his anxious thoughts and recounted the last few things they'd been talking about. "If we can get hold of this machine we need, our best chance is to move while Gorudo is still weak. Does anyone other than Gorudo Corp own one of these things?"

"The University of Tokyo has a similar machine in the West wing of its neuroscience building… less sophisticated, but it could do the job," Trap said.

Daisuke blinked. "That's…specific information."

Trap didn't quite meet the eyes of the boy he'd experimented on for the past week. "I built it. When I was a student there."

"…Okay," Daisuke murmured. "So, you're saying you invented it?"

"Yes."

"If you had this machine, you could fix it?" Satoshi asked.

"Yes."

"Then I'm going after it," Daisuke said.

Trap frowned incredulously. "Don't tell me you think you can just walk in and ask for it?"

"No," Daisuke admitted with a cryptic smirk,

"—but I can steal it."

**- oOoO O OoOo -**

**To be continued!**

**Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers! And I myself am very thankful for all of you who are reading! I wrote part of this chapter with an FBI agent sitting in the room with me, so I took advantage. Apparently trying to grab a gun really is the stupidest thing you could possibly do. YEEE there is a really good part coming up! Thank you so much for reading. Please let me know what you think!  
**

**Some shout outs:**

Hawaiianbabidoll – Thank you for reviewing! I'm really glad you like how Krad is coming out. I never expected to have this much fun writing him!

Don – Hooray for shy readers! Thanks for coming out of the woodwork and for the kind review! It made my day : )

Kathy Ann – I'm sorry for making you cry (although it makes me feel like I did a good job)! Considering I originally wanted this to be about 12 chapters….I'm not sure my word is reliable, but I am thinking there will be about 4 more? Thank you for reading!

Stormshadow13 – Lol that is exactly the reaction I was hoping for! Thank you!

Corrie CrossBearer – Thanks for reading! I heart squeals!

Girru – Wow! I'm so flattered you took the time to read this crazy thing and leave me such fun and detailed feedback! I know what you mean about specific pictures inspiring a new way of looking at a character. That has happened to me as well. Back when I dared to try my hand at poetry, I used a picture of Dark as a muse for a poem (it's up here, but it's a little old and blah). And then the sentiment behind the poem became this monstrosity you're reading. I'm really happy that the story made you think of an "alternate" Krad, as I also found the Krad in the series to be needlessly flat and villainous. Thank you again, and I hope you continue reading!

Seylin – Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm glad the suspense was there at the end!

Yuki Hikari – Thank you for finding the typo! I will have to get in there and fix it soon. As far as Dark's wings, I'd say that merging with Gorudo dissolved the body he had all to himself and recreated him, so there is a fresh start on the wings at this point. Thank you for reviewing!

Staidwaters – Thank you for your review! Yay for emotional rollercoasters!

Natsuki Chere – You're always so supportive with your feedback! Thank you as always for reading!

Tokonatsu24 – Your review made my day! Thank you for all your kind feedback! It means a lot to know the character progression is working as intended, since of course the only people who can verify that are the readers. Anyway, you're the best : )

Endra – I'm really glad the fight scene worked out, and especially that the control issues with Dark and Gorudo made sense! Thank you as always for reading and for the feedback!

Canzie – Thanks for reviewing! And I'm sorry for being so mean to Dark! (bows)

Bronze Andromeda Sun – -Dark steals keyboard- Dear Sympathetic Human: I am NOT okay! This crazy #!% keeps making things worse! This wasn't in my contract! I demand a new writer! Not even Shakespeare could fix this mess! I need to go call my lawyer.


	38. Warmth

**Part 39 – Warmth**

**Author's note:**

**I'm sorry for the long wait! In compensation, I give you…unexpectedly long chapter plus maybe just a tiny bit of fluff.**

**-o0o0oO-OOO-Oo0o0o-**

The van's loose suspension rattled in protest as it turned the corner out of Satoshi's complex and dragged out onto the main street. The unmarked police vehicles that were protecting the apartment dropped into the distance behind them. The sun was dropping out of sight as well, sending ribbons of orange and rose across the horizon as it retreated below the urban skyline.

"It's not dark enough for this," Satoshi muttered from the passenger's seat.

"It will be when we get there. I've done this before, remember?" Daisuke stole a glance at his partner in crime.

The bluenette's stone-faced expression didn't seem reassured. They drove in silence until Satoshi noticed that their turn was coming up and they weren't slowing. "Here's the freeway."

"Oh!" Daisuke cursed under his breath as he swung the van onto the entrance ramp at the last second. The van squealed unhappily at the sudden abuse, barely keeping four wheels on the ground.

Satoshi threw his hand to the ceiling and managed to avoid tumbling onto Daisuke as they careened into the snail shell curve of the entrance ramp. He drew a slow, audible breath and let it out gradually.

The redhead merged the van onto the freeway with apologetic caution, waiting for the inevitable scolding. "I was spacing out, sorry." When they were fully settled in the flow of traffic and the lecture still hadn't come, he spared a curious glance toward the bluenette. Satoshi's expression seemed unfocused, as if he were seeing something a thousand miles away. Apparently, the redhead wasn't the only one with things on his mind.

"Regret rescuing me yet?" Daisuke asked playfully.

Like a switch had been thrown, the lost expression was gone, and Satoshi was looking at him again. He pulled himself back into the conversation, and the corner of his mouth gave a faint tug. "The regret was instant, of course."

Daisuke smirked and looked back at the road. "You have that thing set to channel six?"

Satoshi glanced at the walkie talkie sitting in his lap. "Yeah, it's set."

"I know this is outside your comfort zone, Satoshi. Thank you for coming."

The boy snorted in response. "I'm used to robberies."

"You're not used to committing them."

Satoshi's gaze flicked up to the road. "Exit!"

Daisuke's eyes went wide as he looked up and swerved onto the offramp. The van's suspension whined pathetically. "Sorry, sorry!"

"Jeezus! Are you certain you're up for this?" Satoshi growled once he was confident they were staying on the pavement.

"Yes. Yes, yes. I just forgot how close it was." Daisuke gripped the steering wheel stubbornly as they turned out onto a local road, following a sign for "University Campus, Next Right". He eased around the campus road, passing students and large university buildings. No classes were in session, but the campus was still bustling with student activity at this time of night.

"We're going to be seen," Satoshi said.

Daisuke smirked. "Yes, we are."

Satoshi gripped the armrest on the door almost abusively. "Are you insane?"

"Believe me, we're less conspicuous in a crowd than if we're carrying out equipment in the middle of the night. Besides, nobody's going to know what that thing is."

Satoshi grimaced. His eyes dropped to his lap.

"Trust me, Satoshi. I've done this before, remember?" Daisuke reassured. His friend nodded grimly. Satoshi didn't look at him. The redhead's garnet eyes softened. "Hey… is everything alright? I know you're uneasy about the theft and all, but… I mean, is something else wrong?"

Satoshi carefully unwound his fingers from the armrest and straightened up a little. He met Daisuke's patient eyes. If this situation were reversed, the redhead would probably spill his guts in a second. He wondered if talking might actually help, this time. Not really his thing. What would he even say? Too many options crowded his head, and he couldn't bring himself to choose any of them. "No, sorry. I'm fine. Let's get started."

Daisuke tilted his head and studied him. "Alright. Just sit tight and be ready to drive."

Satoshi slid across to the driver's side as Daisuke hopped out. "You're sure you know what you're doing?"

"Trust me. There's barely any security here. Just a college building." Daisuke gave him a thumbs-up and headed off toward the building. The redhead made it through the locked entrance so quickly that it almost looked like he hadn't stopped to pick the knob.

Satoshi watched him disappear into the building and gripped his walkie talkie unit until the plastic shell creaked in protest. He should stay focused on what they were doing, but he had the strangest feeling of not really being there. Too much had happened. Everything was wrong. Daisuke and the others, they were upset, worried about various things, yes, but they were all still feeling, struggling, living. _He… _he felt like the only one numb, watching pieces of his reality crumble off into mazelike darkness he couldn't follow. He didn't know how to prevent it or make any sense of it. He was just watching the pieces float away. He knew it wasn't normal to be this numb. He should feel something. Should he be scared? Furious? Relieved? All he knew for sure was that if he found the answer, it would _hurt. _

To be stealing equipment from a university building with his best friend while everything else was falling apart was too alien, too ridiculous. He gazed at the inert device in his hand. If it was seriously all falling apart, how come he couldn't say anything?

_-I'm in the lab,- _Daisuke's voice crackled across the walkie. _-There's a storage area in the back. Looks like people don't come back here much. Everything's dusty.-_

Satoshi checked his mirrors. Students passed occasionally on their way across campus, but no one was watching them. "All clear outside," he followed up. "How's the security?"

_-Pathetic,-_ Daisuke returned. There was a long pause. _ –Satoshi, is this definitely the building? I don't see it.-_

"Yes. You're sure you know what it looks like?"

_ -I was strapped down next to one of those things for a week, I think I remember what it looks like,- _Daisuke mused. The speaker picked up the sound of him rummaging.

"This machine was a prototype. It will probably be a little different. Look for something with similar controls, maybe a little bulkier than your version."

Silence washed over the connection. Satoshi waited patiently for his friend's status while the last strands of color died on the horizon. The air outside was already cooling. It would be a cold, clear night.

Where was _he_ going to go? He hated that he was even thinking about it, but the dying sunset pried the question to the front of his mind.

'_Did you not agree to keep me under house arrest?' _Krad's cold voice echoed in his memory.

Satoshi gritted his teeth. He propped his elbow at the base of the window and thrust his forehead into his hand. It was all falling apart.

_-Uh, Satoshi? We have a problem.-_

He took a deep breath and focused on the walkie. "What happened?"

_-I found it, and it's bigger all right. I'm gonna need your help to carry it out.-_

"You're kidding," Satoshi said, reaching for the door handle. "I'm coming." He scanned the street around him and walked straight and calm to the door of the building.

_-Wait, Satoshi, I'll come meet you, so just wait outside.-_

The bluenette rolled his eyes. He was not interested in standing around the door in the middle of a robbery unless he was one of the good guys. He pushed the door open and stepped into the building.

"Satoshi!"

He barely had time to recognize the urgency in Daisuke's voice before the redhead tackled him sideways. The impact took them both to the floor. Satoshi groaned softly as his ribs absorbed the impact of Daisuke's body on top of him. "What the hell," he wheezed, even as Daisuke's hands held him low against the floor.

A thin red beam passed just over their heads. Satoshi stared at it as he worked to catch his breath. "You said the security in here was pathetic."

"Well, it is," Daisuke said carefully. "Just a turret sensor. It rotates around the room." He swallowed. "Easy to miss, though…"

Satoshi managed a wry grin. Daisuke was such a straightforward person that being tactful just made him seem flustered. "It's okay, Dai. My thieving skills are pretty sad. No need to nurse my ego."

The redhead blushed and smiled. "Stand up when I do, and follow my lead."

Satoshi watched his friend's movements and followed him across the hallway into the next room without incident. Inside the lab, Daisuke shut the door behind them. "Good! Is your chest okay?"

"It's fine," Satoshi said, but his ribs ached preemptively when he spotted the huge device Daisuke was standing next to.

"This is what we need to get out," Daisuke said.

"I was afraid you'd say that." The thing was practically a vending machine. "Not quite as glamorous as stealing artwork, is it?"

A sorrowful ache passed through the redhead's expression, obvious for just a moment and then just as quickly hidden behind a stiff nod.

"Daisuke…I'm sorry," Satoshi said, studying his friend's eyes.

"It-it's not you," Daisuke stammered in embarrassment, waving his hands to dislodge Satoshi's concerned gaze. He looked down at the ground. "I just… Dark would have loved this. Instead he's out there somewhere, alone. I left him alone."

The bluenette barely nodded, struck by the easy, direct way his friend could express his feelings for his angel. How had their bond turned out so strong, when his with Krad was such a mess? He put a hand on Daisuke's shoulder. "We will get him back. Let's just get this monster out of here."

It was twenty minutes later when they finally got the thing out the front door of the building. They literally had to slide it underneath the turret sensor, since it was far too large to carry without triggering the beam. The cool night air felt good on their sweaty skin as they navigated the machine to the van. The campus was quiet, with just a few people walking around. Only one student passed them as they eased the heavy machine into the back hatch.

"What are you doing with that?" the boy asked, stopping to peer into the back.

Daisuke froze, but Satoshi was used to being in charge at a crime scene. "Tune-up," he said casually without stopping his work.

"Oh…cool," the student muttered without much interest. He glanced them over and then continued on.

It seemed like ages before they had the building fully locked up and were finally back in the van. Satoshi leaned back into his seat, supporting his throbbing ribs with a firm arm. Heavy lifting was a far cry from good therapy for his injuries, and the pain was making him grouchy. Daisuke wisely chose to stay quiet and give his friend space as he eased the van out of its parking spot and took them back toward home.

**-oooOOoO0OoOOooo-**

The crowded apartment felt surreally _static_, like the strange collection of people sitting around Satoshi's living room were painted into the scene_. _The TV was on in the corner, playing out the media's confused coverage of the events at the Gorudo Corporation headquarters that afternoon. Every channel had a different take on it. A few floor lamps filled the space with mediocre light, but the ambience was languid, insufficient to hold back the sense of nighttime outside. Reclining in Satoshi's armchair, Hattori flipped through the news stations with a bored look on his face. Shira and Trap sat carefully at opposite ends of the couch like awkward throw pillows, patiently enduring the vet's channel flipping and avoiding each other's eyes.

"They should just talk to each other," Risa murmured under her breath as she observed the scene from a stool at the kitchen island. Her hand rested on the counter, carefully curled over the enchanted stone Dark had given her. Its silence felt louder than the TV.

"What makes you say that?" Riku returned from her spot next to her sister.

Risa's eyes looked dull and distracted as they observed their two Gorudo Corp "refugees". "They obviously have some sort of feelings for each other."

Riku just shook her head, her expression hardening. "I really don't care. They're the reason we're in this whole mess. How can you be so sympathetic toward them after what they did?"

"Yeah," Risa agreed mildly. "But they changed their minds." She looked down at her hand, the enchanted marble peeking out between her fingers. "People change their minds."

Riku tilted her head a little at her sister. Risa had been acting distant all night. "You must be worried about Satoshi, right? You know Daisuke will take care of him."

"Yeah, I know," Risa said again, worry crossing her features. "Actually, I don't know what to feel."

Riku's brows knitted together. "About Satoshi? Why?"

She hesitated, like she wasn't quite sure what it would mean if she spoke it out loud. Her sister's patient gaze was waiting. "I…I think we just broke up."

"_Tonight?" _Riku's eyes widened. She hesitated in choosing her reaction. "But you two have been together so long…"

Risa smiled sadly. She couldn't help but notice her sister hadn't used "but you're perfect for each other" or "but you love each other". She didn't even seem truly surprised. _Together so long. _Her sister already knew. The strongest part of her relationship with Satoshi had been just how long and hard they had struggled to somehow make themselves work together. There was a kind of love between them. It took a lot of real affection to work that hard at a relationship. It also took some serious incompatibility to keep all the effort from actually succeeding. The others had already noticed they didn't really make each other happy. She felt a little disappointed, like she'd been left out of an important secret everyone knew but her.

"He's always been distant, like he's just out of reach for me. But this week…he's totally inaccessible. I always knew it might not work, but something about this whole mess—it's just set it all in stone. His head is somewhere else. His heart isn't even trying to see me. And I'm not even sure he realizes it."

"…is what Satoshi is probably thinking, just as much as you are," Riku pointed out, glancing at the stone in her sister's grasp.

Risa's expression stiffened for a moment, thinking, then melted into acceptance. "Yeah," her twin said quietly. Her eyes followed Riku's to the stone in her hand.

"Look, sis. I'm not saying I know if the path you want is healthy, or even possible," Riku said quietly. "But you deserve to be happy. Not just 'okay'. You were right to be true to your feelings."

"I know." Risa swallowed hard and stared at the countertop until tears welled up in her eyes. "So how come it hurts so much?"

Riku drew her crumbling sister into a tight hug. Risa burrowed her face into her twin's shoulder and sobbed.

The scene drew the attention of the others. Riku looked over her sister's head to find Hattori and Shira, even Trap, staring at them. Risa's breakdown had disrupted the quiet spell on the room, and Hattori looked ready to spring to his feet once he figured out what he could do. "She's fine. Watch the TV," she ordered them firmly as she held her twin.

In time, Riku managed to coax her into Satoshi's room and convince her to take a shower. It wasn't a bad idea. She'd been on the stakeout in the van for most of the past 72 hours. Stress and lack of sleep were having a serious effect on her coping skills at the moment. She didn't even have the energy to be embarrassed that the others had seen her cry. The desire to be warm and clean was enough to redirect her attention and help her compose herself.

She left her clothes on the floor and gave herself to the scalding water, pointing her face up into the spray as the steam hugged her calm. She looked down at her hand, still clutching the stone Dark had given her. Her fingers slowly uncurled, letting the water pour over it like a tiny river rock. The simple beauty brought her a quiet peace. She watched the light play over the flowing surface and eased into a soft smile. "We're coming to help you," she said gently. A firm sense of hope slowly returned to her as the heat washed her clean.

She could have sworn the stone pulsed, as if possessed with a faint, single heartbeat. It surprised her, but she didn't drop the marble. "Dark?" she whispered, the word echoing off the tile around her.

She knew he couldn't hear her. That wasn't how it worked. But slowly, she began to hear voices from Dark's side of the spell. They were faint at first, as if the link was barely intact. She held the stone close to her ear, though it obviously wouldn't make a difference. _Her_ ears weren't picking this up. Dark's were.

_He could hear. He was awake and alive. _Relief poured over her. She had almost been positive the stone's link was broken when Dark switched bodies. Gradually, the sounds grew clearer. She stepped back, partly out of the spray, and leaned into the shower wall, listening with all her focus.

It was almost an hour later when she finally stepped back out into the common room, dressed in some clean clothes she kept in Satoshi's closet. She looked radiant and clean with her wet hair still clinging to her neck and shoulders. The heat of the shower had left her with a warm flush to her cheeks, which deepened when she realized that not only were Daisuke and Satoshi already back, but everyone in the room had turned to stare at her. "W-….what?" she stammered, making sure she'd actually put on all her clothes.

"Must have been some shower!" Hattori teased curiously.

"You alright, sis?"

Risa looked around at everyone and stopped on Satoshi. The bluenette was sitting on the end of the couch, forcing Shira closer to Trap, resting a hand over his ribs. To her relief, he met her eyes without too much awkwardness and seemed okay.

"I didn't think I had that much hot water," he commented, with a careful, friendly twitch of a smile. His blue eyes seemed closed off, but he was trying.

She smiled back. Maybe they weren't okay yet, but eventually, they would be. All that effort had built something between them, even if it wasn't romance. That wasn't going anywhere.

She took a deep breath. "I think I know where Gorudo is going to be tomorrow."

"What? How?" Daisuke sat up quickly.

"The transmitter Dark gave me is working again," she said, holding up the stone. "Gorudo's being released from the hospital right now."

"How is Dark?" Daisuke blurted.

Her eyes shadowed a little. "It's not clear…sometimes the signal gets a little blurry, but mostly it's clear and strong. Gorudo's still controlling him. I don't think he can even speak unless that creep unlocks him. But he can hear everything that's going on, and it's all transmitting through this."

"Can I listen?" Daisuke asked.

Risa nodded and handed him the stone. He listened carefully for a few moments, and then blinked. "I heard something at first, but it just cut off."

Risa took it back and looked at it in confusion. The stone was silent. "Either something happened to Dark, or Gorudo just used Dark's memories to find out about the stone."

"Is that even possible? Do you think he knows we could hear him?" Riku murmured.

Risa took a few moments to think. "Even if he knows about the stone because of Dark's memories, he shouldn't be able to tell if we were listening. It looks like he's cut the link off to be safe. But I think it's still safe to assume that what they were talking about in the hospital will hold true. I could be wrong, but he struck me as a little too arrogant to view a few humans as a reason to change his plans."

"You said you heard where he would be tomorrow?" Daisuke prompted.

Risa nodded. "According to Gorudo's lawyers, a press conference in the park tomorrow will be the best choice to settle down all the bad publicity the company's getting over today's scandal."

"That's it, then. That's our chance," Daisuke said. He looked to Satoshi for confirmation, but the bluenette seemed to be zoned out again, worrying about something. "Maybe we should get some sleep, and brainstorm in the morning. It's getting late, and everybody's exhausted."

No one could disagree. Satoshi drew himself back to what was happening around him, realizing his apartment was going to be a hotel tonight. He went to the closet for every blanket and towel he owned and set about laying out a way for everyone to sleep comfortably for the night. When he was done, his living room looked like a teenage slumber party, but everyone had some space. He couldn't remember ever having such a large group in his home, even for a party. It was overwhelming being around so many people. As soon as he had the blankets distributed, he stole the first chance he could to retreat to his own room. He walked across the quiet space and sat down stiffly on the corner of his bed.

She seemed to be okay. He would be okay. Things would be alright, he told himself. His friends were all here. They were in the next room, and he'd kept them safe, and things would be fine. When he figured out what this blackness pulling him apart meant, if he asked, they would go at his side to recover all the pieces. Even if Risa and he weren't lovers, they would still be close. He would go back to normal.

Did he even want normal? Would normal feel less empty?

What if he had been empty all along, and just never noticed until now?

He spread a shaking hand over his face. Why was he thinking like this?

It was a long time before he mustered up the resolve to go back into the main room. The others were in the process of getting settled, and Hattori looked like he was already asleep. "Satoshi?" Daisuke asked from the floor. "If Gorudo decides to come after us…"

"The police outside will see him first," Satoshi said. He touched the police radio that was sitting on the kitchen counter. The volume was set to max. "If anything approaches the apartment, believe me, we'll all know it's coming."

"Good. Satoshi, look at me a second," Daisuke said. He pushed up to a sitting position, focused on his friend. The bluenette glanced at him briefly as he went to check the locks on the door. "Satoshi…come on, what's _wrong?"_

Satoshi threw a cool, composed gaze at his worried friend. "I'm fine. Get some sleep."

Daisuke frowned. He knew that look, and he knew he wasn't getting past it. Usually, he could more or less figure out what was bothering his friend, but this situation had him stumped. "Is this about Krad?"

Satoshi cast him a startled glare. "Sleep!" He could feel Risa's eyes on him as well as Daisuke's as he marched back to his room. He slammed the door behind him and leaned back against it like there were monsters on the other side. _NO. No, no, no. _ He wasn't going to think about it. He found his anger and held onto it for dear life.

A fierce burst of static jolted through the apartment, followed by a male voice projected at mind-jarring volume.

_**-This is unit two. Figure sighted approaching from the northeast.-**_

_**-Unit four, confirming. Figure is airborne.-**_

_**-This is command. Prepare to engage.-**_

Satoshi's eyes shot wide. He spun and threw open the door. The quiet, sleepover-like scene was abruptly transforming as the others jumped to their feet. Shira was already at the window with her gun, and Riku was launching up from her blankets to peer out next to her. Daisuke and Risa ran to Satoshi.

"No way…he's actually coming here?" Risa muttered nervously.

Satoshi narrowed his eyes. "You said he got out of the hospital about twenty minutes ago. It's the right amount of time."

"But Dark… the police will shoot him!" Daisuke blurted.

"Don't be so sure," Satoshi warned, stepping around them. He rushed to the drawer under the microwave and pulled out his pistol. "Historically, they haven't had a lot of success on that front."

"You think he'll make it to the apartment?" Risa seemed torn between hope and terror.

Outside, a megaphone blared a warning for the intruder to halt his approach.

_**-This is unit two, Figure is not slowing,- **_the radio buzzed against the countertop.

_** -He's been warned. All units, fire at will.-**_

The sound of gunfire echoed through the walls of the apartment.

"Dark!" Daisuke screamed, launching for the window.

"Get away from the windows. All of you, go in the kitchen and get behind the island!" Satoshi ordered. He took a trembling Risa by the shoulders and guided her hurriedly to the shielded area behind the center counter. "It will be fine, he'll be fine," he reassured her. He ran back to herd the others into the kitchen.

_**-Unit four. Target has gotten behind the building. Seems he's going in from the roof.-**_

_**-Units three and four, move in. One and two, cover the outside.-**_

"Everyone stay down," Satoshi ordered, unlocking his pistol and pressing his ear to the door. "Shira, cover me."

Shira stayed back near the corner of the room and trained her weapon on the door. "Ready when you are."

Something was coming down the hallway. Satoshi waited, heart pounding in his throat, until the footsteps stopped just outside. "Now!" he shouted.

Satoshi threw the door open and trained his pistol on the intruder with both hands.

And froze.

His train of thought shriveled as he took in the sight in front of him. His blue eyes locked on his target while his stomach backflipped into his lungs. Krad was standing breathlessly on the other side of the hall. There was urgency in his eyes as he looked at his former wing host, but his posture was hesitant. His wings half extended as he acknowledged the gun.

The angel's exhausted form still managed to have a heartstopping presence in contrast to the plain hallway. Satoshi tightened his grip on his weapon. "What are you doing here?"

Krad took a half-step toward his former wing host. "Satoshi-sama-"

"I said what the hell are you doing here!" the boy nearly screamed. His thumb pulled back the hammer.

"Satoshi?" Shira whispered from across the room.

Krad stopped moving and studied the boy's fierce blue eyes. The blonde looked visibly nervous, like he was fighting an instinct to leave. The door at the back of the stairwell slammed open.

"Freeze!" A voice shouted as a SWAT team moved in with weapons aimed.

Krad spread his wings and spun toward the cops, magic crackling at his fingertips. His body flatly denied him the spell. He choked on the recoil and took a staggering step away from the police.

"Don't shoot!" Satoshi shouted, jerking his barrel from Krad to the men rushing the hall. They froze, confused, but didn't let Krad out of their sights. "If you shoot him, I will shoot you. Understand?" Satoshi commanded.

"Commander…"

"Go outside. Go." Satoshi's aim held as the team retreated back down the stairwell in slow confusion.

Satoshi swung the gun back toward Krad. "Why are you here?" he demanded again. Anger stole the breath from his voice, making it low and feral.

The angel turned back to him slowly. He seemed to avoid Satoshi's eyes, tension increasing instead of leaving his shoulders. "Hph. I chose to come, so I am here," he said haughtily.

Satoshi moved his free hand beneath his wrist to steady his shaking aim. He couldn't handle this. Why did Krad have to keep messing around with him? "Get out. Get the hell out!" Satoshi snarled. He no longer cared who was watching their exchange. He was too pissed. "This isn't a game. You don't get to waltz in and just screw me up whenever you feel like it! You have your own body now. Do you seriously still have nothing better to do?"

He waited for Krad to fight back, but the angel went quiet. Gold eyes drifted slowly over his fierce glare, his desperate posture, and the weapon clasped in his shaking grip. "I did not come to screw you up," his low bronze voice offered.

The bluenette jerked the gun at him furiously. "I'm not playing games. You had a chance to stay, now we're done. Let's not pretend today changed anything. I have every reason to hate your guts."

Krad froze, taking in Satoshi's words. His expression went blank, and something shifted in his stance, right down to the tone of his skin. If he'd looked tired before, now he seemed positively _depleted_.

"Sato…," Risa said very carefully. "I think he's hurt."

"Of course he's hurt!" the boy shouted, "He-" he pressed his eyes shut desperately as images from earlier flooded his vision. Images of Krad shielding him with his body while magical spears tortured his back. Why? Why did he have to go and do that? It made everything so…

"I don't want your help!" Krad muttered. His tone was proud, but his voice was unsteady. "I just…I wish to be here." He was terrified of his own words. It was written all over his face. He still wanted to bolt. He still refused to do so.

He took a slow step forward, but his right leg abandoned his weight, folding under him like paper. The angel let out a stunned gasp and fell forward.

Satoshi watched the angel begin to sink. Without thinking, he abandoned the gun and jumped in to catch the collapsing blonde. He grasped Krad under the shoulders and held him up, chest to chest. Krad's arms caught tensely around his. Without context, the whole scene might have looked like an embrace. Satoshi stared over the angel's shoulder, numb with shock at his own actions. He could have let Krad land on the floor. It wouldn't have killed him. Why did he have to go and catch him?

Why did seeing the angel hurt have to rile him up this much, when Krad could easily enjoy the reverse? It wasn't fair. It was maddening.

"Did they shoot you?" he asked the blonde, his voice barely a whisper next to Krad's ear.

"Once." The angel collected his balance a little, staying off his wounded right leg but still leaning on the bluenette.

"Damn it." Satoshi cursed. Frustrated tears pooled in his eyes. "Damn you. Damn it!" His fingers clenched in the angel's hair as all the fears and traumas of the past week culminated in a single, merciless burst of helpless emotion. He couldn't ignore himself anymore. His inner shields fumbled apart, and the feeling poured out in an unmitigated wave of hurt.

Krad's body stiffened as the tidal wave of emotion slammed through the dam between their minds. Satoshi felt the angel feel him, and he couldn't even find the emotional energy to be humiliated. There was no way to stop his little breakdown in front of them all. He swiped his wet eyes on Krad's shoulder indiscriminately, because it was the only thing available, and blinked down at the wet patch of fabric over the angel's lower leg. His breath shuddered. "Hattori will-"

"You," the angel said, quietly.

"Why—" He dropped the question. Satoshi had used up all the fight he had left in him for the night. "Fine. Hattori, can you get me a bandage please," he raised his raw voice for the vet to hear. The others mercifully offered no comment as he half-dragged the white angel into his bedroom and guided him to a chair.

"Satoshi-sama…" the angel questioned him uneasily.

"Be quiet for a bit," the bluenette ordered. His voice was becoming more controlled, even though his thoughts were still rampaging through their link.

Hattori came in a moment later with cotton and bandages. He glanced to the angel's leg. "Do you need instructions?" he offered the boy.

Satoshi shook his head. "Police training."

Hattori glanced at Krad and back to Satoshi. "Daisuke is going to talk to the cops. The rest of us will be in the next room if you need us."

"Okay. Thank you." The bluenette was grateful they weren't all pouring in to watch. He touched the angel's ankle lightly and rolled up his pant leg. The bullet had lodged in the angel's shin. The bone was close to the skin, so the bullet stood partly embedded in the bone and partly exposed to the air. If he'd been shot at close range, it could have gone straight through the bone and broken his leg. The upward aim and long range had weakened the force of the bullet just enough. What had he been thinking, flying in here under gunfire? Was it that important?

Satoshi's fingers really weren't still enough for him to be a sensitive surgeon. He gripped the end of the bullet somewhat clumsily and pulled it loose. He expected Krad to yell or something, but the angel sat still. It felt very odd to touch Krad this way, when they weren't fighting for their lives. His patient offered him cooperative silence as he wiped the wound as dry as possible, smeared on salve, and wrapped it tightly.

He collected the bloody cotton from the floor and stood to go throw it away. He didn't look at Krad, nor did the angel try to make him, as he went to the bathroom and ran cold water over his hands and face. The bluenette leaned forward on the sink and stared at himself in the mirror, struggling to wipe the stricken look off his face, to pull his diarrheic thoughts back into his own head where they belonged. He didn't want to be connected. He didn't want anyone else in his head. He was done trusting people. He couldn't take it. He couldn't take one more disappointment. But the harder he tried to stop it, the more his mind seemed to scatter, like fish avoiding a net.

***Satoshi-sama?* **

The bluenette stiffened. He turned and marched back to the bedroom to glare at the angel. Krad was still in the chair, his hands tensely knotted over the ends of the armrests. Why did _he _look so rattled? "I said be quiet. Stay out of my mind."

Krad glanced away from him. "Your mind is leaking," he muttered quietly.

A knock came at the door, and Riku popped her face in. "I, uh," she glanced from Satoshi to the angel. They didn't seem to be trying to kill each other, for the moment. "I just…thought I'd bring the extra spaghetti." She stepped in with a plate and set it down carefully on the end table beside Krad's chair.

Krad glanced at the food, and at her.

She blinked at him. Her eyes dropped to his bandage. "How is your leg?" she edged through the syllables like she was approaching a feral cat.

Gold eyes flashed a little brighter as he studied her. She tightened up a little under his penetrating gaze. The concept of having humans concerned for him was disorienting. "It's fine," he said awkwardly, almost skeptically, like her interest might be some sort of trap.

She smiled at him then, throwing him further off balance. "Both of you, get some sleep," she said as she placed a glass next to the plate. "And try not to fight. We need Satoshi tomorrow." She turned and let herself out.

"Tomorrow?" the angel asked.

"The others and I are going to help Dark," Satoshi said. He studied the angel's pale expression. "And if you want to argue about it, you can get out right now."

To the boy's surprise, Krad didn't argue. His shoulders tensed up, but he looked away and didn't comment on the bluenette's intention to save his lifelong enemy. Confused, Satoshi lowered his defenses just a little. "Eat that, and go to bed," he said. He touched the blanket on the mattress thoughtfully. "Guess we don't have a choice. You go under, I go over. I'd rather not have anything across my ribs anyway."

"I do not require your bed," Krad frowned.

"You're not lying on the floor in the shape you're in. Neither am I. Just stay on your side, and don't even think about attacking me again." He pulled his shirt over his head and started changing into his PJs. He couldn't afford to think about what he'd just invited the angel to do.

Krad watched his former wing host change and lie down on top of the blanket on the far side of the bed, facing away from him. He spent a long time thinking, and eating, and even trying unsuccessfully to sleep in the chair, before he finally stood up and limped to the bed. He was almost too exhausted to think, and Satoshi's mind had finally quieted, which he took to mean the younger man was asleep. He lifted the corner of the thin blanket and slid in, facing the bluenette's back. His wings draped off the side of the bed behind him as he kept as much distance as possible from Satoshi.

**-o0o0oO-OOO-Oo0o0o-**

It was still dark when the angel's subconscious pulled him awake. He glanced downward at the boy's alarm clock on the other side of the room. The digital display read 3:25 AM. He didn't even remember actually falling asleep, but his body already felt immensely better. His gaze drifted up to Satoshi's back, a close shadow in the dark room. His eyesight sharpened as he blinked a few times.

The edges of the shadow were trembling slightly. Krad narrowed his eyes and stretched out his mind, but Satoshi's end of the link was silent. The boy seemed to be asleep. It took a few moments to register that the bluenette was shivering. Of course he was shivering, with no covers.

Well, the fool had made that decision himself. The angel closed his eyes to go back to sleep. Except now, he couldn't unnotice the subtle trembling of the human lying next to him. His nerves edged further and further from sleep as he brought back memories of the helpless misery the boy's mind had hemorrhaged into his earlier. Satoshi seemed to associate him with immediate danger and pain. No…it was even more personal than that. The bluenette was threatened by the concept of even being in the same room with the angel. His former wing host wasn't just expecting danger. He expected cruelty.

And why shouldn't he? The angel had promised as much. He'd expressed pride at the boy's suffering. He'd looked for this reaction. Why get irritated by it now? Krad grimaced and cracked an eye open to study the boy's back.

There had been _so much_ pain. All that anguish couldn't possibly be because of him. Could it? Something more must have happened to get the boy that upset. It startled him how much he wanted there to be something else.

The impulse to stop the senseless shivering nagged him until it was impossible to ignore. The boy was asleep. He didn't need to know. Krad gathered his wings and slowly rolled onto his chest. His right wing stretched out to his side and rested, lighter than anything, over Satoshi's sleeping form.

The bluenette went still as the warm blanket of feathers settled over him. "Krad?" he whispered.

The angel fought the urge to jerk back. He hadn't expected Satoshi to be awake. He reinforced every mental barrier he knew how to use and stayed silent. Let the boy think he was asleep.

Satoshi looked down at the angel's long flight feathers draped over his form. They dipped gently where they spilled down to the mattress. Without his glasses on, he saw the white feathers as luminous blurs in the dim light. Krad's wing barely even had weight, yet it was impossibly warm. If the heat weren't so real, he would have found it impossible to believe the moment was actually happening. Even though Krad had obviously only moved in his sleep. The angel would probably die if he woke up to find himself in this position.

The thought made the bluenette grin, despite himself. He'd never seen the angel's wings this close before, or at such length. He wondered what they felt like. It was a senseless impulse, but… well, he was never going to get another chance like this one.

He couldn't move his right arm without waking the angel up, but his left was free. He slowly reached down and brushed his hand, ever so lightly, across the feathers.

Krad's senses jolted alert. Light fingers slid along his feathers in a slow, careful movement. The angel swallowed. Something tightened low in his body, circulating through him like electricity. _What the hell is he doing? _He parted his lips to bark at the boy, and then slowly closed them. Wasn't he pretending to be asleep? If he moved or spoke now, Satoshi would know everything.

The bluenette's hand lifted away, only to come to rest a little higher up. Satoshi's cool fingers sank into the warmth between his primaries and sifted through them very lightly. The cool touch sent heat tingling up his wing, straight to his center. The angel clenched his throat tight and stared at the boy's back with wide, startled eyes. It was much more intense than it should have been. He couldn't remember it being this ridiculous when Midnight's dog had touched him.

The worst part was that he didn't necessarily want to stop it. He had a horrible urge to shift his wing upward and drive the bluenette's fingers firmer against him.

Satoshi had never felt anything so soft. Touching the downy smoothness, he could almost forget this was Krad. How could something this beautiful and delicate possibly be part of someone like him? He forced himself to remember not to trust this feeling. Krad was too bitter, too sadistic to ever be a healthy part of his life. He didn't know why the angel had come back, but whatever the reason, it wasn't because he was going to change.

_You don't need him,_ he reminded himself. The self-inflicted warning worked, but he wasn't very happy about it. He frowned and wrapped his fingers into the soft feathers.

"Satoshi." Krad's voice sounded hoarse.

The sound woke the dead-silent air of the dark bedroom. Satoshi froze, blushing to his ears. He was awake. _He was awake?_

"Yes?"

The angel paused for a few seconds. "Go to sleep," he said quietly, the words thick with something the bluenette couldn't place.

Satoshi realized he was still touching Krad's wing and let go like it was on fire. He grabbed the edge of the mattress instead, tensely waiting for the angel to pull back to his side.

He didn't.

The wing stayed. The silent truce between them stayed. And Satoshi lay wondering what the heck he was supposed to make of all of it, long into the night, until the warmth finally coaxed him to sleep.

**-o0o0oO-OOO-Oo0o0o-**

**To be continued! **

**Well? Whatchathink? I am really curious lol. Please let me know!**

**Thank you for reading, and thank you so much to those who left suggestions and feedback for me! I am so impatient to post this monster that I'm going to skip shout outs, but you are all so awesome and you're what keeps me going when life throws me sucker punches! **

**Oh, and just an update that I put a few more illustrations from this story up on deviantart. I'll put the links on my author profile with the others if you're interested : )  
**


	39. Openings

**Phantom Destiny Part 39 – Openings**

A howl of unbridled frustration echoed through the hall outside the penthouse suite of the Tokyo Hilton. The inhuman sound left the two black-suited men posted outside the door staring at each other warily. "Doesn't exactly sound like 'everything's under control' to me," the shorter guard commented.

"Like he said, no one enters or leaves until the press conference later. Doesn't matter what crazy shit we hear in there, we stay out of his way."

The first guard nodded, flicking open his cigarette lighter. "Just like you said. It ain't worth anything getting on the boss's nerves, especially when he's like _that._

A loud crash inside the room made both men cringe. "…That's going to be on the bill."

**-oOo-**

Gorudo panted, arm still outstretched in front of him as glared at the shattered screen across the room.

***Great pitch, genius. Now we have no clock radio **_**and**_** no TV.***

"Do you ever get tiredof _talking_ all the time?" Gorudo snarled, pounding his head back against the headboard of their king-sized bed.

***Normally, maybe. But not today. You know so much about me, Christopher. I want to know more about **_**you.**_*****

"I'm not telling you a thing, you insolent freak! Now shut up!"

***Use your "inside voice", partner. The other patrons are trying to sleep in.***

"I am not your partner, and you are not my equal. You are my possession," Gorudo shouted, his harsh baritone rattling the hotel mirror.

Dark's laughter filled the man's head. ***For someone who refuses to open up, you do an awful lot of soliloquy. I wonder how long it will take for your men to start wondering about the sanity of their illustrious boss when he's talking to himself all the time.***

"Shut up, shut up, _shut up!_"

***Losing it already, are we? Hey, can you go find a mirror? I bet your face is as priceless as your estate.***

"I can find something better," Gorudo scowled, climbing off the bed and storming to the kitchenette attached to his suite. He tugged out a drawer until it smashed against the end of its glider. His hand emerged with a steak knife. "If you've forgotten your place, I can remind you of it. I may not be able to kill you, but I can bring you to the brink. I'll break you. It's a matter of time, and I've got all the time in the world now."

***Oh, we can see who breaks who. But are you really prepared to cut up your own body just to hurt me?***

"It won't hurt a bit," Gorudo smiled.

***You sure you want to test that theory, right before a press conference?* **

"Certain," Gorudo smiled, pressing the knife tip just under his thumbnail. With a shove, he drove the blade underneath and beyond, until the knuckle stopped its progress.

Dark screamed.

The billionaire smirked, admiring his uninjured hand. He threw the knife in the sink. "You'll hurt when I want you to hurt. You'll shut up when I want you to shut up."

At last, there was silence from the being he'd assimilated. Satisfied, Gorudo went to summon his guards. It was time to get dressed for his first day of immortality.

Inside the silent darkness of Gorudo's mind, Dark pinned his screaming hand to his chest. He was in pain, and he was exhausted. The night before had done little to heal him, but it had been worth the effort of keeping Gorudo awake, even if it meant no sleep. He'd used that time to explore, and prod, and dig and dig at the rank pile of garbage that was this man's mind. He'd even felt himself consider, in some of the darker moments, that it was all pointless.

But in fighting the angel, the billionaire had worn his own mind ragged as well. In that moment, when Gorudo had been forcing his blade through the angel's flesh, for just a second, Dark had seen it. A vital microsecond of lax overconfidence. A vulnerability.

A dark smile elbowed the pain out of the angel's expression. He'd found an opening, and he intended to use it.

**-o0o0o0—OOO—0o0o0o-**

The door to Satoshi's room shut, just a bit too hard.

Satoshi's calm breathing went tensely still. The sound of the door brought forth the awareness of filtered sunlight across his face and warm blankets across his body. Food smells were drifting in from his kitchen. The reminder that he wasn't alone in his apartment thrust him back into awareness of everything that had happened the day before.

However, it wasn't until his now-nervous hands gripped the edge of the blanket, and found absurdly soft feathers instead, that he remembered Krad. His fingers sprang loose from the smooth down and balled up into fists. Krad was behind him. He could feel the angel's body heat next to him on the mattress, as surely as it was radiating through the living blanket stretched over him. His pulse plunged to a hectic rhythm, messy and confused. _Krad was right there. _He lay very still, as if he'd woken up next to a sleeping nest of hornets. He couldn't move. He _had_ to move.

He very cautiously slid forward, off the side of the bed, legs first, then torso, then the rest, as if he were some gelatinous creature. He melted into a puddle on the floor and lay there, breathless. He listened for sound behind him until his ears were ringing with the even whisper of Krad's breath. He waited for the angel to burst awake and drill a cold yellow stare through his back. After a few moments, when the world didn't explode, he shot upright to size up his accidental bedmate. He fumbled for his glasses and brought the blurry shapes in front of him back into focus.

The angel was lying on his chest, as far as possible toward the opposite edge of the bed, except for the enormous wing that stretched gracefully across Satoshi's half of the mattress. Krad was very still, and showed no sign of waking. Satoshi demoted his code-red panic to yellow-orange and took a half-step toward the bed to study his sleeping counterpart.

Risa always tended to look very peaceful in her sleep. Peaceful wasn't a word Satoshi would use in this context. The sleeping angel looked sedate, but in a _tired _sort of way. There was a slight tension in his lips and the set of his brows that suggested exhaustion. Krad's back rose and fell softly with his breathing. Some of the wounds on his shoulders and torso already showed signs of healing. Then again, several harsh bruises had also matured over the course of the night. It was rare to see the angel injured, and even rarer to imagine Krad wanting anyone around him in a condition like this.

Why was he here?

Satoshi straightened up. His heart was slamming against his ribs, telling him to get out of that room. He remembered then what had originally woken him up. He'd heard the door close. Now that his reality started to stretch beyond the four-foot radius containing Krad, he became aware again of the sounds of activity in the main room. Who had been in his room earlier? Whoever it was had seen-…

The thought raised a flush to his face. He glanced down at the watch he'd worn to sleep, and realized it was past ten AM. He rushed to the door and into the bright-lit kitchen. "Why didn't anyone wake me?" he demanded as he shut the door firmly behind him.

The others were all awake. The movement of so many bodies in his normally empty apartment was disorienting. For a delusional moment, he almost wanted to retreat back into his room. He made his way to the safety of a stool at the kitchen island instead.

"I should have been up hours ago."

Riku paused in her process of frying a batch of eggs in a huge pan. "You're injured, Satoshi. After yesterday, we thought you could use some extra time." There was a strong underlying concern in her voice that suggested she was worried about more than just Satoshi's physical injuries. "Are you alright?"

Satoshi fought back the sensation that everyone in the room was suddenly tuned in to their conversation. There wasn't much he could do to avoid it. After losing control in front of all of them the night before, it was no wonder they were worried. "I'm fine," he said stiffly.

"Did he tell you why he came back?" Risa asked.

Satoshi grimaced and thought about the desperation on Krad's face the night before. "Probably just because he needed to show off that he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants."

"He flew through a bullet storm and inside a police barrier to get to you, Satoshi," Risa pushed. "That's not the behavior of someone who's after freedom."

The bluenette's gaze hardened. "He's just messing with my head to torture me," he said, standing to get out the paper plates. He leaned against the counter and reached to the top shelf of the cabinet.

"I don't know, seems like he took pretty good care of you last night," Hattori commented.

Satoshi froze and turned to him, his head rushing with panic. "You were the one in my room."

"I wanted to be sure you were alive in there, but you seemed quite cozy," the vet snickered.

Satoshi set the paper plates on the counter and grabbed Hattori by the front of his shirt. "This is not a game, and it's not funny."

Hattori smirked. "It is _kind _of funny," he insisted, much to the confusion of the others in the room. Apparently he hadn't told anyone else, thank god. "But I wasn't referring to that." He looked pointedly at Satoshi's chest and the way the boy was easily collaring him. "Feeling better much?"

Satoshi blinked. Twelve hours ago, it had been excruciating just to breathe. But he'd just stretched to reach his top shelf, and now he was strong-arming the vet, and he barely even ached. How could he have not noticed? He released Hattori's shirt and stared down at himself. "I don't understand," he barely whispered. "Did you give me something in my sleep?"

"And risk waking _that thing? _I think not. And in case you're wondering, the only things I've ever seen heal up this quick have been _them." _He gestured with his thumb to Satoshi's bedroom door.

"Satoshi…" Daisuke said carefully, "When I was in Gorudo's lab, I recovered from severe gunshot wounds in a matter of days. I can already walk without crutches."

"What are you people getting at?" Satoshi growled.

"I think it's possible Dark and Krad can use their links to heal us," the redhead offered.

Satoshi didn't miss a beat. "If that's what happened, it sure as heck didn't happen on purpose."

"Well, is _he _healed?" Riku asked.

Satoshi rolled his eyes. "How would I know that?"

"You didn't check on him when you got up?" Risa murmured.

"Why are you all suddenly defending him?" the bluenette demanded. "I am not his nurse."

"Sato, I know he's a creepy jerk, but he was shot. What if he went to fever in his sleep or something?"

Hattori chuckled. "Oh, he went to fever, all right."

Satoshi cast the vet a look that could boil steel. "We're done talking about Krad. Where are we on our plans for Gorudo?"

The sudden silence raised his blood pressure.

"Well," Daisuke said quietly. "We've been talking all morning, and there's a plan that could work." He met his friend's eyes apologetically. "But you're not going to like it."

**-oO0O0Oo-**

Krad's eyes snapped open. He blinked the wall of Satoshi's bedroom into focus and stared at it, hard, until he knew where he was. He rubbed his hand into his hair and drew a slow, deep breath. He'd had dreams before, but never so vividly as he had since obtaining this new body. And of all the things to dream about…

Speaking of which… he raised himself up and looked to be sure the boy was still asleep.

The empty pillow jarred him. He pulled his wing back in against his side, away from the residual warmth Satoshi's body had left on the mattress. He frowned at the empty sheets. He'd meant to wake first. How had the boy reacted, waking up like that?

He forced his sluggish muscles to cooperate as he pushed aside the covers and rolled to his feet. His right leg throbbed angrily. Krad took his weight to the other side and limped to the mirror in the corner.

He didn't feel like himself. He didn't even look like himself. His hair hung long and untied, cascading messily around his shoulders and down to his waist. The rest of him looked like he'd been somebody's punching bag. The angel bent forward and pulled up his right pant leg. The fabric was stiff with dried blood as he tugged it up to his knee. For a moment, his fingers trailed along the darkened bandage Satoshi had wrapped the night before.

He let the fabric fall back into place and met his own yellow eyes in the mirror.

His mind saw something different. _"You don't get to waltz in and just screw me up whenever you feel like it!"_

He studied his reflection and swallowed. Satoshi's spoken words weren't the only things that stuck with him from last night. In the midst of the boy's emotional collapse, in that chaos of thoughts and feelings, some had actually been intelligible.

_***Give up, give up, you naïve idiot. He doesn't care, he'll never give a damn about you.***_

The angel slowly reached out and turned on the tap. He splashed water over his face and rubbed, until the last of his and Dark's blood had disappeared down the drain. Then he went back into the bedroom and looked at the door to the main apartment.

He could hear voices, including Satoshi's. The boy hadn't woken him, despite the _state_ they'd been in. Had he been offended? Angry? It occurred to him it would be much easier to know what to think if he saw the bluenette face to face. His gaze fell to the doorknob that would expose him to the crowd he'd intruded upon last night. His hand rested on it, and then dropped back to his side. He turned stiffly away from the voices and back into the bathroom. He wasn't ready to go in that room yet.

It was half an hour later, after a _very_ thorough shower, that he finally ventured back to the knob. Satoshi wasn't the only one in the room to fall silent as the door opened.

Krad was wearing one of Satoshi's towels wrapped tightly around his waist. He glanced out at them warily, hand still on the knob, like he might yet change his mind and retrace his steps back into Satoshi's room. Other than the pure white wings and the inhumanly perfect physique, the angel's appearance was almost ordinary.

"Come in, Krad," Riku said gently, studying the angel as hard as everyone else in the room was.

He stood halfway through the doorway, looking surprisingly modest about showing himself to all these strangers. Their blatant stares didn't help much.

The angel sought out Satoshi and held his gaze in focus. The boy's crystal-blue eyes offered him nothing. "I…wish to borrow some clothes."

Satoshi stood up and walked past Krad without a word. The angel stepped aside, perhaps a little too quickly, to avoid brushing him in the doorway. If the boy's mind had been a broken levee last night, it was an impenetrable dam today. Krad tried in vain to decipher what the boy was thinking as Satoshi knelt down in front of his dresser.

"Abnormal of you to ask for permission," the boy's cold words cut the quiet air as he pulled open a drawer. "Come and pick what you want."

Krad approached the bluenette and knelt next to him. His proximity to the boy left Satoshi's heat radiating on the angel's bare shoulder. The blonde shuddered, far too conscious of the boy's presence. He couldn't seem to concentrate properly. With a soft shake of his head, he reached into the drawer and took a pair of dark jeans and a white cotton button-down shirt. He could feel the boy watching him. He needed to say something.

"Last night, I-"

"Stop." Blue ice froze the rest of the sentence in the blonde's throat. "I don't want to hear any of it."

The angel sat back, caught off guard.

"I'm not a fool," Satoshi warned. "You came here because you want something. Whatever it is, whatever your ploy for showing up like you did, you can forget about it until after I've helped Dark. Daisuke needs me today, and in case your delusional mind is thinking otherwise, he's a whole lot more important than you."

Krad observed the iron expression on Satoshi's face. He pressed back the sense of betrayal that tried to make it to his voice. "Fine."

The boy raised an eyebrow at the angel's yielding tone. "And whatever you're looking for, if you expect me to get it for you, you'll help us, without complaint and without interfering. If not, you can consider that outfit a parting gift. Keep it and get out."

The angel's expression wilted. He looked down at the clothes in his hands.

It seemed to take minutes for Krad to finally murmur, "Yes."

"I thought so. Now get—" Blue eyes flashed to the blonde. The bluenette had been so prepared to corner the angel into his own eviction that at first, he genuinely wasn't sure he'd said his own part right. "What did you just say?" he tried, sounding pale.

Krad rose stiffly back to his feet and looked down at him with an oddly blank expression. Satoshi stared back, more puzzled than ever. The blonde stuffed the clothing under his arm and turned toward the bathroom. _Limping, _the boy realized. His hand unconsciously went to his healed ribs.

Krad didn't look back when he spoke from the doorway. "I said, I will help you."

**-o0o0o-OOO-o0o0o-**

**To be continued!**

**Thank you for reading! I'm sorry as always for the wait on this chapter. I got sidetracked on another project—starting a web comic. I am excited about the coming chapters! Shit's going to hit the fan.**

**Shout outs:**

Seriyuu – Thank you so much for reading! I'm sorry for the REALLY long wait!

Hawaiianbabidoll – Thank you for reviewing! Yeah, Risa and Satoshi made a certain kind of sense. I felt the end of the anime kind of implied they would survive together. There was that moment where he was standing there in his ruined shirt and she was mourning Dark and they looked at each other. But I couldn't help feeling like it was a "we both need someone right now" moment, not a "oh, you were right in front of me all along" moment. I felt like the logic of their relationship would kind of go out the window if the things they'd lost returned.

Seylin – Don't worry, Dark's not done fighting! He'd get bored otherwise. *grin* Thank you for your review!

Animeannie – THANK YOU! 3 And as for wanting to pet Krad's wings…. INORITE? *drool*

KathyAnn – Wow, that is a huge compliment to me! I am so flattered that Krad's transition has been believable enough to change your feelings about him. And I totally went there on the Krad X Satoshi thing. Muhaha. Thank you as always for reading and encouraging me!

Son Goshen – Hi there! Thank you for your review! It means so much to know people are enjoying this thing!

Maj156 – Thank you for reviewing! The fluff was surprisingly fun! I have a feeling you're in for more of it quite soon as well.

Turkmen - I am so flattered that you like how Krad has come out! He kind of took on a life of his own. Thank you for reading and for your heartwarming feedback!

Yoruhana Hitsugaya – Woot you're still reading! Hooray fluff!

Yuki Hikari – Yay, I'm so happy you liked the fluff! And thank you for warning me about the typo!

Fireflower19 – I haven't played portal, for some reason, even though I know I would love it! I'm sorry I was so mean to Dark. You have a point that Gorudo can't necessarily be omniscient just from one day in Dark's head. That's going to get more interesting I think as the next chapter starts. Thank you so much for reading and as always for your feedback and reactions!

Girru – I cracked up when you wrote that Krad has PTSD. That is so sad but true. There is going to be more of the "bystanders describing the main characters from third person" in the next chapter ^_^. Also thank you for catching my typo! That thing was in the worst possible place, very distracting.

Stormshadow13 – I am really glad you liked the wing-draping scene! As fluffy as it is, I had fun writing it. Thank you as ALWAYS!

PunkRawkKitteh – Thank you for your lovely review! I love how you describe Krad – "the more contact with humans he gets, the more comfortable he seems". You might just get your wish, as far as your request that he "gets over his pride for once and helps". Hee!

Tokonatsu – Thank you so much for reviewing!

Nanees – I'm so glad you took the time to read this monster! Thank you for reviewing!

Anja-chan – Thank you for your detailed reviews! It is so neat to see stream-of-consciousness style reviews, because it gives me a sense of what your thought process is as you go through this crazy thing. I hope you keep reading!

Arie Blaqie – Thank you! I wasn't originally planning to make Krad such a major character, but yeah…he took on a life of his own and just kind of happened. You're right—I have been pretty mean to Dark. So glad you're reading!


	40. The Team

**Part 40: The Team**

The tiny apartment was teeming with humans, hurrying back and forth like they were preparing for a storm. He backed up, blocked from getting any closer to the wall by the edge of the sofa, as one of the Harada girls – the one with shorter hair – _not-Satoshi's-girlfriend – _came past him on her crutches.

"Krad, have you seen Daisuke?" Riku asked him, pausing to study the blonde. Her casual manner with him was as odd to him as the concept that he should be keeping track of this chaotic hive of human activity. "He went out to the van with the vet," the angel's bronze voice replied, more out of a need to have his personal space back than any particular desire to help her.

"Damn it, _more _stairs," she groaned, turning herself around and heading for the door.

Krad's shoulders relaxed a bit. He strafed sideways and found the doorway to Satoshi's room. The angel slid through it and into the quieter space and sagged against the wall with a silent breath of relief. This whole morning felt like an out-of-body experience to the blonde. The flurry of anticipation and excitement that permeated the apartment belonged to everyone inside it, and that included him. It was impossible not to be affected by it. He wasn't a captive this time. He was _one of them. _The angel's stomach twisted.

He stared across the quiet room at the empty bed, still unmade from this morning. Phantom fingers brushed against the inside of his wing in his memory as he stared at the wrinkled sheets. In the privacy of his thoughts, he wondered what would have happened if he hadn't stopped the boy. Where would that sensation have led, and what would it have meant? The thought raised a kind of terror inside him. He lifted his chin and closed his amber eyes, as if to drink in the silence.

"Hey!" a female voice snuck up next to him. Krad snapped to attention as he realized the redheaded woman had approached unnoticed. He afforded Shira an uncharitable glare, which she busily ignored. "You seen Daisuke?" she queried, peering in past him.

"Van," he snarled. Ever since Satoshi had negotiated an uneasy holdoff on their interviews with the cops about last night, the angel had been asked to stay put until the police cleared out of the parking lot. However, being the only one not rushing back and forth meant he was becoming the unofficial traffic director inside the apartment. The only thing stranger than that thought was how casually they were all interacting with him now that he was considered "on board."

Well, almost all of them.

"Where is Krad?" a harsh voice came from the next room.

"Over here," Shira muttered helpfully from her position in the doorway.

The boy stormed in beside her before the angel could even blink. Krad wasn't prepared for Satoshi's sudden presence, much less for the deadly-serious coldness of the boy's mind, suddenly projecting forcefully into his. Krad scanned the bluenette like one would size up a storm crashing over the horizon. Satoshi's left fist was clenched at his side, and his right hand was holding the notebook Krad had discovered in the wall the day before. "How did this get out?" Satoshi demanded, holding the book up, but not out to him. "Did you read it?"

_The journal. _The angel studied the notebook with a mix of confusion and wariness. The visual of Satoshi's frantic handwriting, scraped violently into the paper, returned to him. _**"THIS ISN'T WORKING."**_

"I found it," Krad affirmed.

"Oh, did you?" Satoshi sneered. "_Found _a journal that was hidden inside the wall. Let me guess, you just punched randomly, and it was there?"

"Actually," Shira interjected, observing the heated conversation with a raised eyebrow, "That's pretty much the truth."

Satoshi shook his head and threw the book on the mattress. "I don't really care how you found it!" Krad took a step further into the wall as blue ice drilled into him. Satoshi's glare was frigid, angry enough for violence. The effect was startling. "Even a sociopathic ass like you could tell that these are _my_ thoughts, for _my_ eyes. They're none of your business. Who the hell do you think you are?"

The angel gathered his wits and stared at his former tamer. Then he noticed it for the first time: the faint rash of scarlet underneath Satoshi's complexion. Krad blinked at the boy, trying to resolve the fury he saw in the bluenette's eyes with the flush in his cheeks. "Since that thing was obviously about me, wouldn't that make it _exactly_ my business?" he asked, unable to hold himself back.

Satoshi's gaze darkened. His mind projected a sense of pure, indignant fury and the promise of violence. He took a step forward and threw his fist at the angel's face with all he had.

The emotion had been enough warning. Krad reached out and caught the boy's fist, inches from his jaw. He stared at the bluenette's closed knuckles, startled. "Stop this," he ordered, releasing Satoshi's wrist.

The boy tugged the hand away from Krad's touch while immediately throwing his other fist up to finish the job the first had failed. The angel wasn't ready for this one. The punch struck him across the jaw, knocking his head sideways with the impact. The strike had relatively little physical effect on the blonde, but the angel still appeared stunned. Krad's bronze gaze fixated on Satoshi's hand as it dropped back to his side. Those same fingers that had dared to weave through his feathers so tenderly the night before were now shaking against the boy's sides, itching for another punch.

Shira studied the blonde tensely, remembering the way Krad had almost put her through a wall for just a few careless words, never mind an actual blow. She prepared herself to do her best to pull the angel off the obviously outmuscled teenager.

Satoshi took a half-step back from Krad as well, bracing for the angel's retaliation. The blonde was tempted, feeling his muscles coil up on instinct to avenge the throbbing in his jaw. However, confused disappointment seemed to weigh down his clenched fists. The feeling sobered his rage into hollow resignation.

He wanted the rage back. It was easier to understand and simpler to address. However, the harder he sought out his anger, the emptier he felt. They had exchanged blows before. Why did this time make his throat dry and his stomach ache?

"Why even create such a thing? The pages were all torn away," he found himself saying before he could even think it through.

Satoshi's pupils grew small and fierce. "If you're done asking questions, go get in the van."

The angel froze, like he was torn between chasing the storm or bending into it. The fight that he wanted to start died in his gut like a spent match. He unclenched his pale, broad hands and stiffened his wings proudly as he walked past the bluenette.

The angel kept going, out of the room and toward the front door. Shira and Satoshi both stared as Krad actually did as he'd been asked. "That was bold, kid," Shira muttered, tapping her fingers on the doorframe while keeping one eye on the angel's back until he had definitely left the apartment.

Satoshi slowly seemed to catch his breath and steady himself. He leaned into the doorframe in case his knees decided to turn to pudding. "Yeah," he breathed. He met her eyes with an unexpectedly pleased glint to his azure gaze.

The former soldier blinked at his expression, slowly realizing that the boy's anger had somehow dissipated. He didn't look mad. He looked almost excited. Had he attacked the angel just to confirm something? "You're nuts, you know that?" Shira smirked.

Satoshi didn't answer. The excitement spread to the corners of his mouth as he shook his head and walked out past her. Something was different. He didn't know if it was him, or the blonde, or both, but he was certain now that something had changed.

For the first time in days, a flicker of hope kindled in the back of his mind.

He was halfway across the living room when Risa rushed in from the hallway. One glance at her posture and the tightness of her gait told him she was feeling overwhelmed. It was a mood she rarely showed, but he'd seen it from her a lot in the past few days, since Dark had been taken. After all, he wasn't the only one whose behavior had been different recently. She glanced at him with tense brown eyes and proceeded almost skittishly toward the kitchen cabinets.

Satoshi tried to put Krad out of his mind and rearranged his thoughts carefully as he approached the brunette. He stopped short of her side, opting instead to sit at one of the stools next to the island. "How are things outside?" he asked her, his voice pointedly casual.

Risa pulled a glass out of the cabinet and pressed it to the water gauge on the fridge as intently as if she were launching a missile. "The police have moved out, but they weren't happy about it. They still want to talk with you and Krad later, but they're going with the plan to wait until after Gorudo's press conference. Shira and Trap keep bickering with each other. Daisuke's going into that nervous hyper-talkative mode of his, but Riku seems to have the situation contained," she smiled tightly.

"And how about you?" Satoshi asked her, a little quieter.

She met his eyes. Her emotions played across her face like a children's book, ever open and honest. "Nervous," she murmured. She paused a moment. "Scared."

"About Krad's helping us?" he ventured. Even before he finished the sentence, her eyes told him that wasn't it. His worries and hers were two different things. As his gaze dropped away from her face, he noticed something clenched in her left hand. Smooth marble shimmered through the cracks between her fingers. "Dark," he revised.

She nodded quietly.

"Still nothing from the stone?"

She nodded again and glanced down at the marble clutched in her hand. The silence between them stretched out. Here they were, less than 24 hours past their decision to split up, and they were already both too preoccupied with other problems to even bother with the awkwardness between them. If anything, the most awkward aspect of this conversation was how distant their breakup actually was from their thoughts right now. Satoshi folded his hands on the counter, weighing the silence. "Go ahead," he offered, meeting her eyes and showing her he was prepared to handle her venting about Dark.

Her lips curled into a soft smile. "You're probably the last person I should make listen to this… but you're listening anyway. You're always so strong, Sato. I wish I were that tough." She frowned at the stone in her hand. "I just… I keep thinking about what might be happening to him, inside that creep's mind. I think about everything you've told me about being joined with Krad, and what it did to you, and then I picture what that could do to Dark. I think about what he could go through if we fail, and I can barely even breathe. He said he wanted this, but he's suffering all by himself, I'm sure of it…"

A hot tear escaped the corner of her eye. "It's all happening again. We all let him sacrifice himself to seal Krad. None of us stopped him then. We just let him, as if it was all perfectly fine. And when he came back, we all pushed him away. For two years I regretted that I let him do this to himself the first time, and now it's happening again. He's going to throw his own life away _again, _and he probably thinks none of us will even miss him! And I can't even get through to him-" she broke off, clenching the stone ruefully.

"He knows you'll come," Satoshi said, placing a cautious hand on her shoulder. "I'd know, too, if I was stuck and you had the power to help me. Even when everyone else tells you something is foolish, you still try. That's why he knows."

Risa's hand curled and uncurled around the stone as she rested it palm-up on the counter. "Listen, Satoshi… I don't want you to get the wrong idea. About Dark."

Satoshi nodded slightly, thoughts racing. He'd cornered her into talking about it. He couldn't complain if she opened up more freely than he'd expected. "I may not like the idea, but I'm not so sure it's the wrong one." He straightened up a bit, as if throwing himself loose. "But it's fine. You and I can deal with our feelings about that, _after _we get him back."

She nodded slowly. "I don't know how to thank you for…being you." She launched off her stool and gave him a quick, tight hug.

He put one arm around her back and returned the gesture somewhat mechanically. The awkwardness was unintentional; he'd always been bad at hugs. But he knew in that motion that something between them was definitely changed. He was still loved, but she wasn't _his. _He knew it was necessary. He couldn't honestly say that he was _hers, _either, but that didn't stop the fleeting prospect from haunting his mind - that he might very well never meet another person who would hold him like he was the center of the world.

"Worrying up here is just going to get you more and more wound up," he breathed as she finally pulled away. "Krad's out in the van. He needs a brief on the strategy."

Risa stiffened. "You want _me _to talk to him?"

Satoshi smirked wryly. "You'd rather sit up here and agonize about Dark?"

The brunette's skin piqued to a nice shade of rose. "I'm not- I'm just-"

"As a favor to me, then," Satoshi said mercifully. "I'm not getting along with him today." _As if they got along on other days?_ "I'll be down in a few minutes."

Risa set her jaw firmly. "You're right. I should focus on a task." She went to the door and looked back at him. "Thanks, Sato."

A minute later, she was approaching Hattori's van like it might try to eat her alive. The midday sun washed the parking lot in fierce light, radiating off the black pavement and warming her shins. She peeked into the open side door and blinked to adjust to the darkness of the interior. Krad was sitting in the back corner, oddly graceful and out of place in the cluttered van. His gold eyes were the first things that came into focus as she squinted her way inside. "Hi there," she muttered, climbing into the center bench and kneeling on it backwards to squint at him.

Her heart faltered as amber orbs burned straight into her. They were the eyes of a predator that had been disturbed, restless and full of the potential for aggression. That look was enough to paralyze her, and she didn't even think he was doing it on purpose. "Um," she reminded her muscles to stay put and not scramble for the door. "Satoshi wants you to know the plan."

The angel considered her for several moments. _Kill or let live._ The predator's gaze left her more than a bit rattled by the time he finally crossed his arms and leaned back into the seat. "I'm listening," he informed her, a note of condescension in his bronze voice.

Listening. This demonic being was listening, all eyes on her. Was he really going to help them? "Can you…close your eyes, or something? You're _glaring_, and it's freaking me out."

"I am thinking," he corrected her, disinterest already creeping into his voice. She didn't budge. Krad rolled his eyes. "Humans," he muttered.

Risa blinked in astonishment as the angel dropped his eyelids shut over the blazing gold. Long, dark-blonde eyelashes fanned out elegantly across the light skin above his cheekbones. She wasn't intimidated anymore, now that he'd shown such a shockingly cooperative gesture, but it was no easier to talk than before. It left her at liberty to stare at his face, which she realized she'd never actually been bold enough to look directly into. The fragile sharpness of his bone structure showed more than it did on Dark. She realized the blonde angel was actually quite slender compared with Dark's lean but muscled physique. It had never really occurred to her that the monstrous white angel could look so much like a real person with his eyes closed.

"Shall I have you close yours, too?" Krad scoffed at her silence without opening his eyes. The tone of his words made it clear he was accustomed to and fully aware of his own beauty. He took no particular pleasure in being admired by humans, especially humans like Midnight, but he'd come to accept the reaction.

"I- I'm not doing anything!" she stammered fiercely, even as she stared at him harder, now for a different reason. She'd never seen the angel crack a joke, -even a dry one-, or display this coyness that she'd thought belonged uniquely to Dark. "Fine, maybe we're better off with them open," she sighed.

She dropped her gaze reflexively as Krad reopened his eyes. "Don't worry, the plan isn't nearly as complicated as this conversation," she muttered, fixing her eyes on the middle of his chest. "So Gorudo's planning a press conference for one o'clock this afternoon. We need to switch Dark back _while _he's on stage. It's the only plan that makes sense, even if it's reckless. Every camera in the city is going to be watching Gorudo when he makes his statement. It's our only chance to get him hooked up to that machine without risking a battle. And after our last attempt to stop him with force, it's clear fighting him head-on is too dangerous…" she glanced at the angel pointedly.

Krad's expression soured, but he didn't contest her statement. His body was still berating him for the abuses it sustained the night before. "And you wish me to involve myself how, exactly?"

Risa studied him. "You're a wild card… but you're the only shot we have if Gorudo decides to publicly exhibit his newly acquired immortality instead of complying with us."

"And how do you intend to make him comply with such a thing?"

"Satoshi is going to confront Gorudo while he's on stage and pressure him to submit to a lie detector test. Daisuke says Dark is immune to polygraphs. By now, Gorudo knows it as well. He has nothing to lose in submitting to a lie detector. After last night's mess on his turf, he'll know that passing a truth test could do even more to clear his company's name than the press conference. It may be a little suspicious, but he'll play along for the police, at least in front of the cameras. And Satoshi is the police."

"Just proving to the cameras that Gorudo is Dark will not be enough to solve your problem," Krad said.

"The test is just a way to get him hooked up to the sensors we need. Trap is wiring the polygraph machine to separate Dark from Gorudo when it's activated. Oh, speak of the devil," She turned her attention to the too-bright doorway as Trap showed up just outside and passed in a heavy black case. "This is it?" she asked the scientist as she studied the case.

"That is the primary sensor," Trap explained. "An expert would notice the modifications, but to your audience, it should come off as an ordinary polygraph device. The machine itself is too large, so it will be underneath the stage. This will project the information we need from Gorudo's thought patterns cordlessly to the rest of the equipment. It should reverse the attachment to Gorudo and return the Black-…. return _Dark_ to his original host. You just need to convince him to put the sensors on."

"Good work, Trap," Satoshi said as he came up next to the scientist and squinted into the van to study the machine he'd be using. The opposite door of the van glided open also, and the vehicle jiggled as Daisuke and Riku piled into the middle bench with Risa. With the large case now at Risa's feet, the middle bench didn't quite have room for three. The girl examined the space in the van and reluctantly shifted to the back row with Krad.

"I'm still afraid he'll recognize you and get suspicious, Sato," Risa murmured as she settled in next to the angel as casually as possible.

"He probably will. But even still, I'm the deputy special forces commander. In front of the crowd, he'll treat me as a cop without thinking twice. He's far too arrogant to think we'd recruit his own scientist like this." The bluenette turned to Trap and held out his hand. "Thanks, Trap," Daisuke told the neuroscientist earnestly as they shook hands. "Really."

If Trap had a reaction to the boy's gratitude, it was safely hidden behind his cool demeanor. "Shira and I will follow in a cab and keep an eye from a distance. Too many former colleagues will be there at the park. If we're seen, we'll arouse suspicion."

"You mean we'll arouse a shootout," Shira grumbled, coming up next to him. "Come on brainiac, they've got to leave."

"I was going," the scientist snipped as he shut the van door. Their bickering continued, muffled through the car frame while Hattori and Satoshi climbed into the front seats.

"God, they're awful for each other," Daisuke murmured.

"Or maybe they're perfect," Risa smirked just a little.

"How's your leg, Krad?" Riku asked, using the excuse to peer back at him.

"Fine," Krad jerked, a little unnerved by the attention but still unusually responsive. Ever since the scene last night, it seemed like everyone was fighting the constant urge to stare. Some of them were fighting it better than others. So far, the angel had been pretty tolerant.

"Everyone in?" Hattori called back as he stuck the van in gear. The vehicle backed out of the space and pulled out onto the roads, taking them toward the park. Satoshi, Daisuke, and Riku began chatting about details and positions for everyone once they were there.

Krad's attention turned instead to Risa. His eyes caught on the marble gleaming in her palm. He recognized its magic immediately. "That is a Hikari." His cold voice silently demanded to know why she had it.

Risa clutched the stone a little closer to her chest, as if the angel might try to snatch it away. "Dark gave it to me."

"You mean he _stole _it for you," Krad corrected her, studying it through her tightened fingers.

"It allows me to hear what's happening to him. Or at least it did; now it's blocked off. And it's only one way." Her eyes dropped worriedly. "Even if I could hear him, I couldn't say anything back."

"Who told you that? Dark?" The angel's brows creased as he studied it, ignoring her defensive posture.

"Yes, Dark," she nearly growled.

The blonde sniffed derisively. "Stupid fool. Goes through all the trouble of stealing something without even knowing how it works." He reached out his hand, and Risa all but pushed through the wall to avoid him. Unfazed, the angel put his hand over hers, surrounding the stone. A gold light swirled softly around his hand and then was gone. "Try it now."

"…Try what?" Risa blinked dumbly.

"The link is focused now. It's like tuning a harp; you need to know what you're listening for to get the full sound. No one but Dark should hear you," the angel said carelessly.

Risa drew the stone close to her chest, staring at Krad. "Are you really telling the truth?" she murmured. She hated the excruciating wave of hope that was already tightening her chest. What if Krad was just toying with her? She wanted to be able to speak to Dark…so badly that she couldn't bear to be disappointed if she trusted Krad's words.

Krad's eyes narrowed as he studied the longing in her expression. Wasn't this the one who Satoshi was supposedly dating? Could it be that her thoughts were elsewhere? Why was Satoshi so fixated on a woman this excitable, anyway? The thought of their wrongness for each other triggered as oddly satisfying in the labyrinth of his emotions. Why this sudden sense of vindication? "Talk," he muttered distractedly. "He'll hear."

She slowly brought the marble up toward her lips, hesitating.

"It is not a microphone," the angel sighed, as if she were using the wrong end of a broom. He glanced up warily as he realized the front half of the van had stopped their conversation to observe their exchange. "Just think of your target, and speak."

Risa pressed the stone over her heart and breathed. She pictured Dark's lavender eyes and hair, his mischievous smirk… "Dark?" she said carefully, and waited. No response returned to her through the link. She raised her lids and frowned at Krad. "It's not working."

Krad rolled his eyes. If he'd gone this far to explain it, he may as well go the full way, as tedious as it was to describe these things to those without magic. "Stop picturinghim and _think _about him."

Risa eyed him for a moment. She didn't know if she could trust him to not be playing some kind of cruel practical joke. She closed her eyes, clutching the stone tightly. Dark's eyes, dark's face… No. It had to be more.

'_You are my wings.' _ She remembered his whispered words when they'd met outside the Gorudo building.

Battered, but strong wings fighting to hold the wind, defying his injuries and fears.

Brave eyes, assuring her he could handle it all on his own.

She would never let him be alone.

"_Dark," _she almost whispered. The whole van waited.

A tremor came over her, like feathers brushing skin. It made the hairs on her arms stand on end as it tingled through her.

***…Who's there?* **Dark's confusion rippled across the link.

"It's Risa. Dark, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

***Nothing permanent. How are you getting to me? Gorudo locked down the link.***

Risa didn't like the tiredness she was starting to notice in his voice. "Krad reopened it, with some obvious adjustments."

***Krad…***

"I know, it sounds crazy," Risa peered at the bored-looking angel who was looking out the window next to her. "Dark, can Gorudo hear us now?"

***No… this connection is different. It's closer to what I have-… what I had with Daisuke. Risa, did everyone come through in one piece? Last night is a little blurry.***

"We're all fine, thanks to you."

***And Krad?***

She blinked at the real concern in his voice. "He's okay too," she said, noticing the white angel's attention return to her for a moment, as if he knew he was being discussed. "Dark, _you're _the one I'm worried about."

***Don't be. I'll be fine, once I figure this guy out a bit. Put in some homey touches.***

Risa's stomach turned at the idea of Dark trying to make himself at home in that deranged, selfish mind. He really did think they were going to leave him that way.

"Do you think we'd just be okay with that? With never seeing you again? Dark, we're coming to help. We're not abandoning you, so don't give up yet."

There was quiet for a moment. ***That means a lot. You have no idea how much, actually. But all of you need to stay out of his way. He won't kill me; I can challenge him from the inside. For the rest of you, he really will feel just fine murdering anyone who interferes. It…**_**excites **_**him. And he'll use me to do it. Don't push him, Risa. I can handle it in here, but if he makes me kill you, I won't be able to bear it. That's my limit. Understand?* **

Risa swallowed hard, eyes burning. He didn't sound like himself. His proud voice was strained, aching. She couldn't stand thinking about him that way, stuck in the mind of a wanton murderer and trapped at his disposal. "Dark, we're coming, and that's the end of it." Her firm voice slid into a comforting, confident tone. "Don't worry. We have a plan. No one will have to get hurt."

***Risa!***

She put the stone in her pocket, cutting herself off from his protests. Listening to him try to take this on himself was just going to get her angry and desperate, and she'd be much less use to him that way. She raised her watery eyes to the expectant gazes of the others. "He's trying to protect us," she explained quietly.

"Well, too bad," Satoshi said, his cold voice supporting her. "It's our turn."

She returned his unexpected enthusiasm with a growing smile. "Dang right!"

The van swayed as they turned into the drive leading to the park. Ahead of them, three squadcars perched around the edges of the road, as if awaiting them. The strobing police lights flashed to life as they approached. "I…think we're being pulled over?" Hattori murmured as he slowed his approach.

"What the…" Satoshi muttered as the doors of the vehicles swung open and armed officers piled out. The men spread out strategically to surround them as the van slowly pulled to a stop on the stone-paved drive.

"Please step out of the vehicle," commanded the speaker from one of the squadcars.

"What's going on? Is this Gorudo's bought-off police force?" Riku demanded.

"No," Satoshi said grimly. "Those are _my_ men. Everybody out." He pushed open his door and stepped out, hands raised.

The whole group piled warily out of the van into the street.

"Commander Hiwatari, come with us please," the men instructed as the group collected. "You with the wings, you too."

"What's the meaning of this?" Satoshi demanded, tensing as he noticed the police getting too close to Krad for their own safety. He didn't know if he could convince Krad to stay under control if the police tried to touch him.

The officer closest to him looked genuinely disappointed as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "I'm sorry, Commander…but you need to cooperate. Your winged friend, too."

"Whatever it is you need to ask, it can wait until after the press conference," Satoshi said firmly.

"Actually, Sir, it can't," the officer forced out unhappily. Satoshi noticed something in his expression that he hadn't seen at first: Disappointment. In him.

"Boss, you're under arrest…for murder."

**-o0o0—OOO-0o0o—**

**To be Continued!**


	41. Ultimatum

_**Previously:**_

The officer closest to him looked genuinely disappointed as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "I'm sorry, Commander…but you need to cooperate. Your winged friend, too."

"Whatever it is you need to ask, it can wait until after the press conference," Satoshi said firmly.

"Actually, Sir, it can't," the officer forced out unhappily. Satoshi noticed something in his expression that he hadn't seen at first: Disappointment. In him.

"Boss, you're under arrest…for murder."

**Part 41: Ultimatum **

_Murder._

Satoshi had to really think for a minute to realize what the officer – _his _officer – was talking about. Then, it all came back to him. Being shot, being pulled from a moving car by Krad, and waking up to a scene of pure carnage. It was bound to catch up to him sooner or later. "Murder?" he asked numbly.

"Boss, don't make this harder than it already is. You're charged with the murder of "Midnight" Sakamoto and three of her men. We found your car this morning in the waters below the crime scene. The bullets in the victims match your glock. Moreover, eyewitnesses have you and that creature," he waved a hand toward Krad, "involved in a gunfight at a local establishment."

"Those reports are all true, but there was no murder involved. The whole situation was self defense," Satoshi said firmly, knowing perfectly well that if these men were anywhere near the cops he'd trained them to be, they'd never let things rest at just that.

"And you never once called for backup? Never radioed in the situation, never filed an incident report. I hope you have a _really _good story for this," he confided apologetically as he clipped Satoshi's hands behind his back.

"Look, take me if you have to, but the angel wasn't involved. For your own safety, leave him out of this."

"No can do. The eyewitness saw both of you, and you're past giving us orders until we figure this thing out." Three officers closed in on Krad. Risa and Riku stayed close to the blonde, as if their presence might help prevent the obvious disaster that was about to take place.

Satoshi turned his gaze to Krad. ***Cooperate. Don't you dare attack them, Krad,* **he ordered, not really expecting it to work.

Krad glared icily at the men approaching him. His attention seemed to stick to the officer who was procuring handcuffs from his belt, the way a spider observes an approaching insect. And yet, no attacks were flying, yet. Hands closed over the angel's wrists, bringing them back. The movement was slow and firm, which was good. If it had been harsh, Satoshi suspected the blonde would have killed them all on sheer reflex. Krad's muscles moved stiffly but compliantly as his arms were brought behind him and secured. Satoshi let the breath he'd been holding slowly squeeze out of his lungs. The blonde actually seemed to be cooperating… for now.

"This is crazy. Satoshi wouldn't kill anyone!" Risa snapped as the police forced them out of Krad's radius and led both he and Satoshi toward a large police transport van.

Satoshi stared at the angel as they were both pulled along. He couldn't feel what Krad was thinking. At this point, any guess was as good as his, since he'd been certain the angel would have fought their captors by now. He turned to Daisuke, who was jogging alongside them, looking for eye contact. "Get to the stage. If I'm not back in time, forget the plan, Daisuke. It's too risky otherwise," he called to the redhead, just as the walls of the van blocked his view.

It was a spacious vehicle, considering its purpose, but dimly lit. It truly felt like a portable interrogation room. He and Krad were led to benches on opposite sides of the van. Satoshi sat down carefully. Krad jerked when the men touched his shoulders to make him sit. When he noticed the bluenette watching him, he dropped to the bench in a stiff movement, pale but still.

_He's doing really well, _Satoshi noticed, knowing he shouldn't take for granted it would stay that way. He had to focus on getting them out of there as soon as possible. "I know how bad the evidence looks," Satoshi said to the squad leader, whose name was Kouga. Satoshi had trained the man himself. "As you can see, it's been an unusual couple of days, but there's a logical reason why I haven't involved the department in this."

"Well, you have all the time in the world to explain it to us," Kouga confirmed flatly, directing two men to retrieve something from the front. They came back with a contraption made of black metal that looked like some kind of harness.

Satoshi's gaze hardened. "What is that doing here?" he demanded.

"Well, this is what it was designed for, isn't it?" Kouga said.

"It was designed to restrain Dark," the bluenette said, moving to stand up. A hand on his shoulder pulled him back to his seat. Krad stared at him, apparently not understanding yet. Satoshi didn't meet his eyes. The thought of what the blonde might do to his men if they tried to fasten him into that contraption was disturbing. "You don't need that. He's cooperating," Satoshi snapped.

"The squad's safety comes first, Commander, and there are four cold bodies right now that say the two of you are dangerous."

"He's not the shooter!" Satoshi barked. "I am. I did all of it."

Krad's eyes shifted to him, shock draining his irises to black dots in his amber gaze. The men in the car had much the same reaction.

"You're saying you shot all those people?"

"In self defense," Satoshi reaffirmed.

"One of those men was shot _six times at point-blank range._ You call that self defense?"

"The men were armed, and they were shooting too. You've read Midnight's file. You know what she's capable of."

"Then perhaps you can explain why she would even be after you in the first place?"

"I-" Satoshi faltered. His eyes shifted to Krad, who was staring. "She had Krad restrained in her basement against his will. He got a message to me, and I came."

The questions just piled up in the officer's eyes. When we've heard the whole thing through, we'll see," Kouga managed to respond. "Secure the wings," he instructed the men.

Krad scowled as the doors of the van were closed and locked behind them. Hands grabbed his left wing. He instinctively pulled away, but it was hard to prevent contact when his wingspan was longer than the whole van. More hands closed on his opposite wing, even as something cold and hard was slipped over the first. The contact shriveled something inside his mind into a tight, defensive ball. Memories triggered just beneath the surface, scratching at his inner walls.

***Stay calm, Krad. It's temporary,* **Satoshi's voice ordered inside his mind. He wanted to scream back, but he couldn't find his voice. He flushed a deep red and forced himself not to attack, concentrating on Satoshi's instructions. Something slipped over his other wing as three men worked together to hold him still and prevent his involuntary wrestling. The device ratcheted with a series of clicks. Wire and metal noosed his wings in tightly, until they were bound fast to themselves and each other. The tight control of his mind felt like it was unraveling as he realized he was trapped. Again.

Krad flexed against the device, panic starting up in him. He couldn't extend or even move his wings. The harder his muscles strained against the harness, the tighter it latched him in. Satoshi wasn't doing anything to stop this. He was just watching. Everyone was just watching. Memories of his time in Midnight's captivity bled fresh fear into his expression. Vile humans starving him, beating him, caressing him, controlling him. He had to kill them. Had to kill them all. '_And then what, THEN WHAT?!' _he screamed at himself. His eyes clenched tight.

Satoshi's earlier words were the only thing that kept him from blowing the whole van apart. He had, after all, agreed to cooperate. _'If not, you can consider that outfit a parting gift. Keep it and get out.'_ Why couldn't he? Since when had 'getting out' stopped being an okay option? Slowly, he brought the tornado inside him back below the critical point and held it there. He leaned forward over his knees on the bench, holding very still and looking like he would be sick.

Satoshi's mouth went dry as he watched the angel. "Krad," he breathed. Violence would have been one thing, but he hadn't expected the hardened angel to react this way. It seemed like it was about more than just his wings, like something was going on in his head that was traumatizing him. The angel's mind was locked tight, but anyone in the vehicle could see his pale skin was growing damp with sweat. "Get back," he ordered the officers. "Give him space while he gets used to it."

The men didn't take much notice of his warning and didn't seem concerned by the angel's state. "First, you answer some questions."

Satoshi ignored them, focusing on Krad. ***Krad, show me what's happening.***

"No, just shut up," Krad answered shakily, not daring to use his mental voice. If he unlocked himself even that much, he was sure it would all spill out at once.

"Who's he talking to?" demanded one of the men.

"He's psychic," Satoshi explained with a dismissive jerk of his shoulder.

"Psychic?" Kouga murmured skeptically.

"That could be how he got the message out from Midnight's compound!" one of the men brainstormed with enthusiasm.

"Don't jump in with the sharks so easily, Taro," Kouga scolded. "You're kidding, right?" he demanded of Satoshi, jerking a hand over his ear as if that was some kind of protection against unwanted mind-reading.

"He's not psychic with you, just with me," Satoshi snapped. "Come to this side, and I'll answer all the questions you want.

There was a long silence. "Fine. You two, over here," Kouga directed. The guards on either side of Krad made their way to Satoshi's side of the van, giving the angel a wider berth.

_Good. That should at least lower the chance of the body count getting worse. _Satoshi took a deep breath and looked down at his watch. Gorudo was speaking in five minutes. This was all a huge mess.

Kouga broke him from his thoughts. "Alright, Commander. Start talking."

Satoshi sighed. "I couldn't radio anything in. Krad's existence is top secret, even from the department. He's been our inside source on Dark Mousy for a long time. I had to get him out of the mess with Midnight without involving the squad, but Midnight didn't part with him easily. I let her think it was police business, but she figured me out.

"There was a chase, and a shootout. The vest that saved my life should have been on the scene when you got there. We both dove for the street when I lost control of the car. We got cornered, they were out for blood, I was hurt, I got scared. None of it was planned." The bluenette calmed his tense fingers in his lap. He was a little surprised to realize he'd told almost entirely the truth. The only thing omitted was Krad's little shooting spree. That, and the angel's rescuing him from the car. _Why cover that part up?_

Because he couldn't make it sound real when it didn't even _feel_ real.

Kouga stood and considered him for some time, ignoring the hopeful gazes of the other men. They were searching hard for a way to believe in him. He'd trained good men. "I might be able to work with that, but it's gonna take more information. Tell me about the freak," he gestured at the blonde.

"Krad," Satoshi said, his nerves rising.

"Can he speak, without this stuff," Kouga tapped the side of his head.

"Of course," Satoshi sighed.

"Then he can answer his own questions." Kouga turned to Krad, who was bent forward and looking at the ground between his knees. The angel still looked white as a sheet. Satoshi frowned at him. Something really didn't seem right with the blonde. "Well, Krad, can you corroborate the commander's story?"

The angel's expression soured without even looking at the man. He hesitated before returning with a flat "Yes."

"What exactly are you?"

"A work of art," Krad almost whispered. His bronze-silver voice, with its unplaceable accent, brought the rest of the van to a curious hush.

"You expect me to believe that?" Kouga scoffed.

"You do not?" Krad's piercing gaze took all irony out of the question.

"We'll…get back to that. Mind telling me exactly what Midnight wanted with you before you called for help with your "psychic" powers?"

Krad frowned at Kouga, his expression a golden warning.

"There's no point in trying to threaten me. Until I say otherwise, you're all mine, so start talking."

Krad stood up swiftly, looming over Kouga. He was intimidating, even with his hands and wings bound behind him. That didn't last long. Hands were on him instantly, forcing him back down to the bench. _NO. _Krad grappled against their hands, his movement almost frantic, before he was pinned firmly to the wall. He scanned the men's faces in an adrenaline-soaked blur. Azure blue caught his gaze in place as his eyes flew to Satoshi. The boy was standing up now. He was looking at him with a firm stare. _Cooperate. _

Krad just stared at him, his muscles shaking under the men's grips. How could the boy ask this of him? The rough human hands on his shoulders and chest were like a nightmare that wouldn't go away. He couldn't stand them, could barely breathe under their touch. The line between reality and his traumatic memories was rotting away. His whole body stiffened. _No. She's dead. She's dead. Am I going insane?_

He hated the terror that twisted in his chest. More than that, he hated the complacent blue eyes that were watching, only watching, while it all happened again. _ It was happening again. _Why was he obeying the boy? He was _free. _Despair saturated the adrenaline in his system. He sagged under the men's grips and pounded his head back against the wall miserably.

Satoshi watched the scene unfold, horror growing steadily in his gut. He could never have imagined being this disgusted at the sight of Krad safely under control. The words pulled from his lungs, rising before he even knew he would say them. "Don't touch him." His harsh tone, barely even whispered, caught the men's attention. They looked back at him without quite releasing their grip on the angel. "I'm serious. Keep your hands to yourself," he snarled. Satoshi crossed to the angel's side and stepped between Krad and the men. Hands slowly drew away from the angel as the bluenette blocked them.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kouga started, confused by the intensity swirling in his Commander's eyes.

"Stopping you from being an idiot. He's not a normal human prisoner. There are rules to working with him, and you don't know crap about them, so get on the other side of the van." It took a few testing moments, but finally, the men retreated to the opposite side, leaving him alone with Krad.

The boy could hear his heart pounding in his chest. "Go ahead," he signaled the angel quietly. As he'd predicted, Krad jerked up to his feet and bolted to the far corner of the van, away from all of them. The cops just stood still while Satoshi's glare told them not to pursue.

Satoshi sat on the bench and frowned at his men. He knew full well there was no way the angel would be interested in sitting again anytime soon, after that little episode. He half expected Krad to let loose his power on all of them at any moment. Whatever was wrong with him, he had it bad, and being restrained was making it worse. He couldn't remember the angel ever being that traumatized by restraint, before-…

Did Midnight have something to do with this reaction?

His chest felt tight as it occurred to him he'd never really pressed the issue of what had happened with Midnight before he'd intervened. Krad had played it all off like he was fine, but suddenly, all Satoshi could think about was the state he'd found the blonde in when he arrived – _half-dressed and half dead, drained past the breaking point. Shaking. Bleeding. Paranoid. _ The knot beneath his ribs tightened. What the hell had he interrupted that day? Midnight had a reputation for some bad hobbies, but had she seriously…with Krad…? Could Krad have actually concealed something like that?

He turned to stare at the angel, who was glaring at him and everyone else. "Look," he said to his men, tearing his attention away from Krad. "I know you're going to need to ask more questions, and there's a lot to explain. But I swear, there is a good reason I've kept quiet about all this, and I will explain it in time. Right now, we have a bigger problem. We're this close to finally getting something on Christopher Gorudo. Do you really want to miss it, fussing with me here?"

Kouga considered him for a moment. "It's true. We want to be there for the statement."

"I know you're not sure you can trust me, but we need to be freed, at least for the press conference. If you need me back afterwards, then that's fine, but I can't stay here yet."

The man frowned. He looked genuinely sorry. "Sorry boss. Not yet. We'll take the van over to the stage, and we'll hear everything you've got to say, but you have to stay put."

"You don't understand! I can elicit a confession."

The cops chuckled ruefully. "It'll be a cold day in hell when that bastard confesses to anything. We'll let you watch, and that's it."

Satoshi ground his teeth as the officers made their way to seats in the front compartment. One man stayed behind just to keep an eye on them as the van started moving. The bluenette looked over at Krad as the vehicle jiggled into motion. He noticed the angel was leaning against the wall. A little thought made him realize Krad was standing on his injured leg.

***They're gone. Why not sit down?* **he asked the angel quietly, sliding down the bench.

Krad didn't even twitch, but something opened between them, just the faintest crack of light under the door between their minds. ***Why… do you keep doing this… to me?* **

Satoshi stiffened, a chill going through him. ***Krad?***

The angel pressed himself against the corner, as if that would lengthen the distance between them. ***Stop it! I don't know why you're doing it, but stop! Stop being like this. Stop ruining me. I can't even think straight. I should kill all of you.***

The bluenette jerked to his feet. Something desperate and utterly terrified was lurking just behind that door, and he was afraid to even try to open it. He tried his best to be calm and tactful. ***What are you talking about?***

***SHUT UP!* **the angel rasped, halting him. ***You didn't fire any of those bullets.***

Satoshi just stared. Was that really what this was about? He didn't know what to say, because he really didn't have a good answer. ***That's true. But I let a civilian get at my gun, which is almost the same thing, for a cop. And we've already been through this – whatever sentence they might go after for me would be nothing compared to you. I want you off their radar as soon as possible.***

The van shifted. Satoshi sucked in a quick breath as he felt a stabbing in his leg and an awful sensation down his back. The alien feelings hadn't originated from his body. _The door was opening. _***Stop it… Just stop,* **Krad ordered him, sliding down the wall to sit on the floorboards. His wings strained at the harness, which clicked a notch tighter.

"Krad, just breathe," the bluenette said quickly as he crept toward the angel's side. He shot a warning glare at the officer when he tried to approach them. The look held the man back as Satoshi knelt in front of the angel. He frowned as he looked up close at the unpleasant brace that was locked around Krad's wings. Funny, he'd had no problem thinking about putting it on Dark… "This place is only temporary. I'll make sure they don't keep you here, so try to bear with it," he whispered to the blonde.

"As if they could!" Krad snapped. His blunt tone did little to offset the impression given by his pallid, sweating appearance.

Satoshi wasn't sure what came over him then. The angel's stern pain was too much to watch. With an expression calm and firm as a frozen lake, he looked into Krad's eyes. ***Look, I'm not sure what this is about, but I promise that you are safe. I will not let them do anything to you, and I won't leave.***

Krad's eyes twitched up at him, pupils focusing into tiny dots. Satoshi waited for a response from him, but he seemed to be speechless. Of course he would be…why had he even spoken such ridiculous words? The angel would never be able to understand them. He barely understood himself, even though he really was serious.

The blonde's gaze jerked downward, but even as his eyes tried to disconnect from his wing host, something snapped loose inside him. Satoshi felt it clearly, like a tire suddenly blowing out at full speed. That tightly locked door burst wide, and Satoshi was thrust without warning, deep into the storm that was raging behind Krad's golden eyes.

The impact of the sudden mental contact almost dropped the bluenette to the floor. This was more than mere emotion. The link was tighter this time. He was not just seeing. He was _remembering._ Satoshi braced himself and swallowed hard. He'd never been able to block the angel, and now that the blonde's thoughts were so uncontrolled, he couldn't help but feel what Krad felt._ There was nothing but anger and pain. Fury, revenge, confusion, helplessness. Isolation. Cage after cage after cage. He saw and felt Midnight, kicking the shit out of him, blow after blow, until he couldn't even move through the agony, let alone summon an attack. Humiliating pain was lacing down his arms and shoulders as he hung by his wrists, not knowing when it would stop. He starved, he ached, his throat dryer than sand. Outrage and terror battled inside him until the line between proud and pathetic was completely blurred, and all that was left was survival. Hands, hands all over his skin, holding him down, forcing him. Opening things up inside him that his drugged body and scarred mind couldn't possibly handle. Even pleasure, when it came, hurt beyond reason._

Satoshi wanted to look away, but he couldn't. These flashbacks were Krad's, and he couldn't stop them. He watched and felt all the things Krad had gone through with an unvoiced mental scream. _No. No, no, no! _The need to reach out and stop the cruelty was unbearable, but there was no interrupting what had already happened. He'd known Krad hated midnight for what she did, but he'd never, ever imagined it had been this bad. No one ever deserved to go through this. And the memories didn't end, would never end. They bled on and on, like an avalanche of horrors inside the angel's head. ***Krad!* **Satoshi gasped through their connection, into the mental whirlpool spinning between them. ***Oh my god…Krad…* **His hands still cuffed uselessly behind him, he leaned in and pressed his forehead to the angel's. His eyes burned with tears as he leaned into the blonde's clammy skin. ***Stop thinking. Don't let her hurt you any more!***

Krad's chaotic mind flickered at his words. Satoshi expected him to withdraw from the physical contact, but he didn't move at all. The angel's tense breath disturbed the still air between them, brushing across the bluenette's collarbone. Krad seemed too trapped in his thoughts to do anything about his current mental and physical intimacy with his former tamer. Satoshi sniffed back his tears as he realized how awkward this must look to the officer behind them.

Krad's memories jumped restlessly. He was trying to force his way back to reality, looking for a foothold. _He was being dragged up to meet his former wing host in Midnight's foyeur. The memory was painful, but the tension was different. Amidst the embarrassment and burnout, there was also hope, and longing. _ For what?Not even Krad's subconscious seemed to know. Satoshi was baffled by how much relief and need seemed to be associated with that moment for the blonde. All Satoshi remembered was the angel fighting him tooth and nail. Had it actually been different? Exactly how did Krad feel about him? He let a reassuring but confused feeling through his own barriers for the angel's sake.

Krad didn't reject the calmer mental contact. He breathed deeply and, with a little effort, brought the roar of his mind back to a quieter hum. He pulled the door shut behind him as he funneled himself back into his own head. The blonde raised his face, breaking their contact. Satoshi realized the angel was blushing.

_Now there was something he didn't see too often._ Satoshi sat up straighter and simply stared at the blonde.

"Satoshi-sama," Krad breathed, his blazing amber gaze seeming to disassemble him. "I -"

The van slowed to a stop. "We're here. Time to move," the officer behind them interrupted whatever it was Krad had meant to say. There was a loud clang as the latch to the back of the van shifted and the door swung open.

Kouga was standing outside. "It's starting."

Satoshi drew back on his heels, suddenly noticing how close he was to the angel.

"Coming, or would you rather stick inside?" Kouga prodded from outside the gate.

The bluenette looked Krad in the eyes. He stretched out his thoughts, but felt nothing from the chaotic mind that been so open to him moments before. ***Can you do this?* **he checked quietly.

Krad leaned away from the wall and rose to his feet. His pale expression was carved sternly in place. Satoshi stared up at him, still kneeling on the floor. He should be worried right now about Gorudo and what would happen if this whole opportunity went south. Instead, all he could concentrate on was the cold sweat traveling across the bridge of Krad's nose. He saw Krad's amber eyes begin to recognize that he was staring, knew the exact moment when the angel noticed the glaze of tears still clinging to his eyelashes, but he couldn't make himself look away. Not when he knew Krad was reliving those terrible moments behind that golden wall.

The boy slowly turned toward the open back doors of the van. Outside was his one chance to help Risa and Daisuke save Dark. But even without feeling Krad's mind, he knew the waiting officers and pointed guns represented the last place the angel wanted to be right now. He took a deep breath.

"No. We'll stay here," he said quietly, standing his ground next to the angel.

"We're going out," Krad muttered. Satoshi blinked at the taller man as he straightened up and walked to the door and into the custody of one of the uniforms. Bewildered, the bluenette climbed to his feet and followed the angel to the gate, jumping down to the grassy soil outside.

The secure transport was parked amidst a number of colorful news vans jumbled together like tic tacs on the field next to the park entrance. To their right, a substantial crowd had formed around a raised stage set up in the midst of the park. Cameras and microphones swarmed around the edge of the platform. Curious civilians fanned out around them, spread across the field. After the newscasts that had been streaming footage from last night for the past twelve hours, it was no surprise there was a turnout. Security was in plentiful supply.

A rush of whispers went through the crowd as Gorudo stepped up onto the stage, escorted by two of his security guards. The black-suited men stood at each side of the stage as their boss approached the podium.

"Kouga, I seriously need you to let us go, until this is done. You don't understand what's at stake," Satoshi urged.

"Not a chance. I'm very serious, commander, you're not going anywhere until we have you both figured out."

Satoshi bit back his retort, frowning out at the stage.

"Good afternoon. It's good to see so many here today," Gorudo began, calm as a snake. "You have questions about yesterday, as you should. I have questions myself. Since the cowards who propagated this disastrous prank against me have not come forward, I called this conference to set the public at ease, to what extent I can. First, I am pleased to say that the attack on our building will cause no disruption of Gorudocorp's normal business today or throughout the week. Rest assured that we will continue to serve our clients as we always have."

A burst of questions rose up from the sea of reporters around the stage. Gorudo roundly ignored them as he leaned toward his microphone. "I'm sure you have many questions. The public deserves to know what happened yesterday, and I intend to cooperate with the police fully in identifying who is behind this stunt. For the time being, I will say that the rumors that Dark Mousy was hidden within my compound are obviously false. I am the third wealthiest man in this country. It would hardly make sense to keep a thief loose in my building.

A chuckle rumbled through the crowd. The laughter turned Satoshi's stomach. The billionaire had a way with public speaking, and this whole situation was playing right into his hands.

A voice blazed up in the middle of the crowd. "You're smooth with covering things up, aren't you? A few charming jokes and some well placed bribes, and you can do anything you want in this city."

The crowd buzzed and expanded around a lone figure at the center of the throng.

Security pushed through the crowd towards the source of the disruption.

Satoshi's breath caught in his throat. "No, Daisuke…" _It won't work if it's not me._

"Wait," Gorudo said from the stage, holding up a hand. The guards paused uncertainly. "Let the boy ask his question. If he's confused, it's likely there are others who feel the same way."

The split in the crowd migrated as the figure approached the stage holding a large black case. "I want you to tell these people the truth about what you've done. Tell them what really happened yesterday!"

"Risa, are you sure this is what Dark said to do?" Daisuke whispered to the girl behind him.

"Yes!" she prodded. "Please, Daisuke. We have to trust him."

The redhead braced himself and nodded. "We don't have another option. Satoshi's not here, and I'm not leaving Dark behind. Never again_._" He moved away from her, through the bystanders.

"If you want these people to take you seriously, prove it!" Daisuke shouted as he pushed his way to the steps at the edge of the stage and climbed up past a wary security staff. Only Gorudo's raised hand kept them from seizing the redhead. Daisuke held the case out in front of him. "The police use these all the time. If you really had nothing to do with yesterday's shootout, take the polygraph. This will settle it."

Gorudo tilted his head at the boy who was standing tensely on the stage across from him. "Look, son. This is a professional press conference. If I acquiesced to every challenge like yours, my work would never be done. Besides, you're not the police. You have no business carrying something like that around."

Daisuke pulled the case up in front of him. "Would your investors feel the same way about your passing up an opportunity to prove, once and for all, that you know nothing about Dark's appearance last night?"

Gorudo narrowed his eyes on the boy. "You have nerve. I'll acknowledge that much. Now I have to ask you to leave the stage. These good men and women have a lot of questions of their own."

Security closed in on him instantly. Daisuke had to drop the machine case on the stage as he was gripped under each arm. "No!" Daisuke growled. He struggled out of one man's grip and kicked the other in the shin so he could put space between himself and the guards. The men looked stunned as they realized he was actually going to resist.

"This man is Dark!" Daisuke shouted at the audience, throwing his arm down angrily. "He's lying to all of you, and you're just eating up the garbage he's serving!"

Murmurs rolled through the crowd.

Gorudo stiffened at the podium. "Remove him."

The security guards, reinforced now, closed in to get the redhead off the stage. Daisuke dodged around the podium, putting Gorudo between himself and the men. It was the safest place; he doubted the billionaire would try to attack him right in front of the crowd. On the other hand, the moment he was off this stage, he was fair game. He'd known that from the moment he'd called out from the crowd. "Last chance, Gorudo. Take the polygraph, and then you can just _try_ to feed these people the same story."

"I will not be manipulated by a sixteen year old!" Gorudo snarled, watching in annoyance as Daisuke pounced and zipped between the guards. That evasive technique wasn't luck; it was skill.

Daisuke dodged sideways as one of the men made a grab for him. The guard's open arms tackled his colleague approaching from the opposite direction. "Why Mr. Gorudo, how did you know I was sixteen? Oh, that's right, you _kidnapped me._"

The press crews began crowding the stage, shouting questions up at them both, even as Daisuke's evasions made the scene look closer to a brawl than a press conference. Gorudo's gaze darkened. He caught the eyes of one of his two private bodyguards, who were both still positioned at the rear corners of the stage.

The black-suited man snapped to attention suddenly. "He has a knife!" he cried out.

All eyes focused in on Daisuke, who was tugging himself loose from a security guard who had caught his arm a few feet away from Gorudo. On cue, the second bodyguard pulled out a pistol and trained it on the boy. Something heavy and pointed slipped into Daisuke's jacket pocket as one of the security guards brushed past him. Daisuke blinked at the sudden new weight. He had only a split second to realize he was being set up. _No way. _ Gorudo actually planned to get him shot right there on the stage.

A shot fired. Daisuke threw his free hand up across his face while the men around him froze. His thoughts screamed in panic. He couldn't get shot now. He had to get Dark back.

Gorudo threw his hand out fiercely. A rippling shield of energy formed between the gun and Satoshi. The wavering magic caught the bullet and held it there, as if suspended in time. It spun to a stop and then clattered uselessly to the plywood floor.

The entire park went quiet, as surely as the guard's bullet. Daisuke peeked around his raised arm and stared with wide eyes at the dispersing magic. Gorudo's form buckled sideways and leaned heavily against the side of the podium. The billionaire clutched at his chest, struggling for balance.

'_Dark,' _the redhead realized hopefully. Daisuke backfisted the guard who was holding him down and scrambled to put the podium between himself and the shooter. Gorudo groaned and pressed his hands to his head, doubled over with effort.

"That's it. Get pissed," Daisuke muttered, excitement building in his chest. He clenched his fists at his sides, braced himself, and turned to face the crowd. "This man is framing me because he doesn't want you to know the truth. He had me shot and abducted. He's been performing illegal human experimentation. Dark appeared last night because he was coerced into rescuing me! If you guys want a scoop, just ask-"

"This boy is obviously delusional," Gorudo snarled. "Get him off stage. Security, this young man is dangerous."

The guards looked uncomfortably from Gorudo to Daisuke as the crowd murmured. The gunshot had thrown them out of their comfort zone. They clearly weren't sure what they'd just seen, but they knew something unnatural had just happened. Ultimately, the security officers' gazes rested on the redhead and they began closing in. Gorudo lowered his hands from his head, smirking.

Daisuke clenched his fists. He had to keep Gorudo angry. That was all Dark had told them. He had to hope the angel could keep up his end of the bargain.

"You guys want a scoop?" he shouted to the crowd as he danced around one of the guards. "Ask Gorudo what he keeps on the 12th floor of his precious skyscraper. Ask him about the department he calls "Special Ops!""

Violet spilled like fresh paint down the tawny-brown ponytail that hung along the center of the billionaire's back. The older man's legs and back stretched, growing leaner and longer. A tanned hand reached out and gripped the podium for balance as his body shifted partially right before the crowd. "You disgusting brat," snarled a voice that neither was nor wasn't Gorudo's. The security guards froze in their approach as the billionaire turned to look at Daisuke, and the onlookers behind him, through vivid purple irises.

"Sir!" warned one of his private guards. Gorudo reached up to his face and touched his half-changed features. He cursed as he felt what he knew was not his own face. In a burst, he turned on his heel and charged through the line of gaping security officers, making a run for it.

Daisuke spun and pursued him across the stage. He had to leap and tackle the man to the ground to keep him from getting away. They went down in a fierce tangle of limbs and almost rolled right off the platform into the crowd. Daisuke wrestled for dominance as he was thrust onto his back, hanging partway off the front of the stage. Daisuke was well trained for this type of encounter, but Dark's body was still much stronger than his. The billionaire pegged him down at the center of his chest with one powerful arm, straddled across the boy's legs.

"Why put on this pompous display now, boy? Don't you remember?" he hissed into Daisuke's ear. "You gave this body up without so much as lifting a finger to stop me." His violent eyes hardened ruthlessly. "That was the correct decision."

Daisuke struggled with the hand pinning him, tugging at it with both arms. The violet-haired imposter reached to the side and found the handle of the hard black case Daisuke had carried on stage.

"No!" Daisuke gasped, grabbing for the case. "Stop! Dark!"

"You want the truth?" Gorudo demanded, sounding almost possessed with rage. "You don't need this toy. I'll give you the truth, free of charge." He leaned in close to Daisuke's face. "Dark's not coming to help you this time. I wrote the rules to this game, and believe me, only I can win it." He drew his arm back and smashed the case down across Daisuke's head. The redhead threw his arm up, blocking as much of the impact as he could. He felt the harsh snap of bone in his wrist before the case smashed into the side of his head with a blunt crunch.

The world spun white for a second. When his vision sorted itself back together, he was watching the blurry chunks of Trap's polygraph machine tumble out of the broken case as it fell at the feet of the reporters below. "No!" Daisuke twisted over on the plywood and flailed desperately after the machine.

"No you don't," Gorudo snarled as he grabbed the boy's broken wrist and tugged him away from the edge of the stage. Daisuke screamed in pain and grasped the man's wrist as he was literally hauled up to his feet.

"You…bastard…give him back!" the boy choked out as the world started spinning. This wasn't Dark. Dark would never hurt him like this. He looked up into what had once been Dark's face desperately. Dark wasn't coming, and if he didn't do something soon, he was going to get himself killed.

With a minor being obviously brutalized right in front of them, the onlookers finally seemed to reach a decision about which person needed to be stopped in this situation. Voices shouted up at the billionaire as he dragged Daisuke across the stage.

By the police van, Satoshi and his men had much the same reaction. "I'll be damned, that kid wasn't kidding. Gorudo's got something to do with Dark," Kouga gasped, pulling out his glock and a baton from his belt. "We gotta go, guys. Hiro, Maiku, stay with the commander. The rest of you, with me."

Satoshi started forward instinctively, but Hiro's hand on his shoulder pulled him back. "They've got it, Boss," the cop said apologetically.

"You don't understand what you're dealing with," Satoshi urged, feeling out the limits of his cuffed hands.

"I know Dark when I see him, Commander. We're trained for this, remember? We'll be careful," Kouga reassured him. With that, they ran to intercept the fight.

On stage, Daisuke gave up pulling away from Gorudo's merciless grip on his arm. He tried to resist the urge to break free and run. Dark was inside this body, and unless he did something right now, he was going to lose him. All of them were going to lose him, forever.

"Dark! Please!" he half screamed, throwing his arms tightly around the angel's shoulders. Fire laced up his broken arm, but he held on hard and pressed his face into the stiff fabric of Gorudo's tailored suit. "Please! I never meant to do this to you. I'm so sorry…Dark," he choked on a sob.

Gorudo pried him away and held him at arm's length. The police were making their way up toward the stage. He looked disgusted. "I'll kill you someplace more private," he growled. He reached out a cufflinked arm in the direction of the crowd, and violet energy began gathering around it. The police and reporters alike seemed to freeze, as if they instinctively grasped the danger they were in.

"Don't you dare fire on those people. Dark!" Daisuke screamed.

The light gathered and swirled around Gorudo's hand, building to a concentrated ball, explosive enough to injure or kill everyone watching them. Then, it abruptly fizzled out. The magic fell loose and unraveled. Gorudo's arm shuddered and he took a quivering step backward, as if an unseen force was shoving him. The violet hair dissolved the elastic around it and spread, wild and loose, around his head. When the unstable legs finally found balance and turned to face him, Daisuke saw only Dark in those violet eyes.

"Uck!" I need a cold shower," the angel grimaced, shaking himself off like he'd just rolled in slugs. He looked like himself. Maybe a little grayer under the eyes, but unmistakably Dark.

"Daisuke," the angel addressed him, "You're hurt. Do you want to run?"

The boy stared in emotional relief at his former soulmate, who seemed as casual and proud as ever. How could he act so confident when he was the one whose life was at stake here? The cordial greeting wasn't as intimate as he'd hoped, but then, he didn't really expect Dark to be comfortable with him right away, after all that had happened.

When the shock of seeing him real in front of him wore off, the answer was easy. The hard glint in Daisuke's eyes was enough reply for the angel to understand. Dark smirked, the energy sparkling at the corners of his eyes. "Good. Let's get busy."

"The machine," Daisuke muttered, looking out at their very confused audience. People were slowly beginning to recognize the fully transformed, albeit wingless, figure of Dark on the stage. The reactions were mixed, but considering that Dark hadn't been seen for two years, the sudden cheers from the audience were quite animated. In minutes, the scene had gone from a diplomatic press conference to a celebrity sighting.

If Dark was troubled by the attention, it didn't show. Daisuke walked up to the edge of the stage and gave a wave to the animated crowd. Slowly, the chaotic attention gathered on him. "Dark says that he'll take that truth test now," he announced. "If we could just get that machine back on stage."

He blinked his eyes hard as the crowd began to spin. "No…," Daisuke breathed as his head started to feel heavy. Maybe Gorudo had knocked him harder than he thought. If he passed out now, Dark would be on his own. He had to get that machine back. He struggled for focus, looking through the crowd.

Then he spotted her, near the front, pushing through the reporters. "Risa!" he called out. He felt the world lurch and go weightless. _'Not now,' _he prayed to anything that could hear him. _'He needs me, right now!"_ Darkness choked out his vision. The next thing he knew, strong arms were holding him under the back and legs. The gentle support made it hard to even move a muscle to recover. "Stop! I need to…" he gasped blearily.

"You did fine, Daisuke," Dark's velvety voice said from just above him. "Lie still."

"No! I have to save you," Daisuke pleaded, tears welling up in his eyes. "I'm not leaving you again. Dark, I'm so sorry."

"I know, Dai."

The redhead blinked up at the angel. Somehow, Dark's tone didn't sound sincere. _***No, Dark, I 'm serious. I won't hurt you like this again. Please believe me!* **_The mental plea echoed emptily in the circumference of his own mind. The words would only sound like words, and there was no psychic connection between them to take the feelings any farther than his own head. For the first time in Daisuke's life, the phantom thief seemed almost like a stranger to him. This was what it was like for ordinary people to try to get close to Dark Mousy.

One of the police officers who had taken Satoshi earlier was making his way onto the stage, weapon drawn. Dark walked straight toward him.

"Dark!" Daisuke's hands gripped into his suit front. The angel proceeded without hesitating, much to the bafflement of the officer. Kouga put his hand behind him to slow his backup's approach as Dark came to meet him at the edge of the stage.

"Lieutenant Kouga, right? Long time no see," Dark addressed him calmly as the rest of the men on stage kept their distance. Even Gorudo's private guards seemed uncertain what to do with their boss in this changed form.

Dark didn't wait for a response from Kouga. The officer had no choice but to lower his glock as the legendary thief deposited Niwa Daisuke into his arms. "I'm leaving him to you," Dark informed him simply.

"You're…what? I'm here to arrest you!" He stumbled a little as he wound up with the boy's weight in his arms.

"Are you?" Dark grinned broadly. "That approach hasn't worked out terribly well for you in the past."

"Don't play with me, Dark," he growled. "You just bashed this kid's head in, in front of about two hundred people. You won't get away this time."

"Dark's face lowered so he was eye to eye with the man. "In all the years your team has hunted me, have you ever seen me cause collateral damage? If you really believe that was me back there, you can try to arrest me right now. If you'd rather do something useful, start getting all these people out of here. I don't know how long I'll be able to hold him back."

Kouga took a step back, uncertainty creasing his forehead. "Hold who back?"

Dark's expression darkened. "If you can't tell who the bad guy is in this situation, there's not much point telling you."

"Stop! Miss, this area is dangerous," one of Kouga's men ordered on the opposite side of the stage.

"I know what I'm doing, just let me through!" a voice that could only be Risa's argued back. The brunette shoved politely through the weak police barrier and stumbled free onto the stage. Clutched against her chest was the jumbled polygraph machine. She sprinted for the opposite end of the platform and stopped short a few feet from Dark. Her eyes centered on the redhead in Kouga's arms. "Is he-?"

"He'll be fine," the angel said, turning slightly so he could keep an eye on Kouga and see her at the same time.

Risa finally had a good look at Dark's face. It was subtle, but she could tell he was exhausted. Probably much more than he was letting on. The thought infuriated her. '_He didn't let you heal last night, did he?'_

She grabbed Dark by the arm. "If you want him, you can shoot me first," she warned Kouga, pulling Dark behind her and backing them both toward the center of the stage.

"Whoah," the angel swayed as he let himself be drawn back with her. "Slowly, my lady. My heart's not ready."

"Stop making jokes and trust me for a minute," Risa said as she dropped to her knees and began frantically assembling the damaged machine.

"Risa, I can take it from here," Dark said. "Daisuke is—"

"It took us half an hour to learn how to run this thing from Trap. You can't just guess your way through it. _You _need help this time, Dark. Daisuke can wait until after your body is back."

The angel tensed and looked almost irritated for a minute, but his gaze ultimately landed on the machine Risa was plugging back together. She was fiddling with one of the knobs and muttering to herself under her breath.

"What is it?" he crouched next to her.

"Everything's together, but the power supply just isn't connecting. If we can get it to power up, we'll be all set. Dark, you can do this, right?" she gestured to the faulty wire.

"Yeah, I should be able to jump it," he answered, a little surprised by her knowledge.

He reached toward the machine, but was distracted by the loud screech of a megaphone coming online. "Dark Mousy, leave the civilian and step to the edge of the stage. You are surrounded."

Before Dark had even decided his next step, Risa launched to her feet and threw her arms wide like a barricade. "Stay where you are, and you'll get something you've never had a prayer of before: A polygraphic, comprehensive interview with the Phantom Thief Dark. No lies, no strings attached. You can go ahead and turn this into another of your embarrassing capture attempts if that's what you want. But step one foot on this stage, and you can keep those questions to yourself, because this won't happen twice. Got it?"

The man with the megaphone whispered to a cop next to him. They seemed to be arguing vigorously for a minute before the speaker finally nodded. He slowly lowered the device. The promise of a tell-all interview with Dark Mousy was too much to pass up. A sea of anxious civilians and furiously scribbling reporters clamored amongst themselves.

"They're waiting," Risa confirmed, taking a step back toward Dark. Her knees folded under her as she knelt down next to the machine and began fiddling with the sensors. Dark watched her in stunned silence. He could see her fingers shaking as she strung the sensors together. She was scared out of her wits, but she was still doing this. For him. How did this woman he'd once all but kicked out of his life still know him so easily? Why did he feel so confident with a terrified, untrained girl there at his side, but not Daisuke?

His pulse jumped inside his chest as he realized he was happy. More than happy. He hunched forward as a jolt of pain shot up his back. Horror flooded through him as he realized what was happening. "Risa," he gasped, the pain suddenly growing worse and worse.

The tone in his voice made her freeze in her work with the machine and shoot him a worried stare. "Dark? What's happening?" she reached out and touched his shoulders as his breathing started to falter. "Dark!"

The angel barely managed to meet her eyes. Pain sprouted like knives digging up from beneath his shoulderblades. **"Run,"** he ordered her. "Make everyone run." He tugged his arms around his chest and jerked forward as a huge ebon wing leapt from his skin with a sickening _rip_. **"NOW." **

At the periphery of the crowd, Satoshi watched the scene unfold with wide blue eyes. "Crap," he murmured.

"What the hell's happening?" Hiro muttered behind him.

The violet-haired angel on stage cried out sharply as both wings burst open to their full span. Dark collapsed to his hands and knees on the stage, panting. Risa crawled back a few feet, staring at the angel anxiously.

Satoshi's throat sounded dry. "Of course."

Hiro frowned at him. "Of course what? What's happening to him?"

"The curse," Satoshi breathed. "He's not going to make it."

"You're going to have to a be a little more specific than—" Hiro's question was broken short as a pale elbow smashed into the side of his head.

Satoshi frowned at his unconscious colleague. "I'm sorry," he muttered. Maiku turned to stare at him in shock, dropping his attention away from the white-winged angel he was guarding.

"Maiku, Krad needs to be released," Satoshi warned.

"Not a chance," the officer murmured, aiming his pistol at his former Commander. He looked hurt, but Satoshi couldn't afford to feel guilty. Not right now.

On stage, Dark's body momentarily stilled. Then the angel was slowly rising to his feet. He calmly extended an arm toward the crowd, and a burst of magic fired without warning into the fray. Screams erupted from the crowd as several were hit by the blast and others burst into a horrified retreat from the stage.

"That's it. Move in!" Kouga called to his men.

"They're going to get themselves killed," Satoshi growled. "The keys, now, Maiku!"

Maiku twitched in horror at the scene unfolding by the stage, but his aim only hardened on his former commander. "You're insane. These _things _are obviously dangerous. There's no way we can let them go. Boss, if you attack me, that's it. You're through. You understand?" Maiku ordered.

Krad was staring at his former wing host, clearly shocked by the bluenette's defiance of the police. Those golden irises were full of questions and eager resolve. Waiting. That look seemed to be the deciding factor for the bluenette as he threw a sideways kick into Maiku's weapon and knocked it wide. He jumped through his handcuffs, his long limbs easily stretching over his tucked legs. With a sideways heave, he launched into the officer and knocked him to the ground. Satoshi quickly seized the keys from Maiku's belt.

Krad waited for the bluenette to escape on his own. Instead, the boy scrambled from Maiku's grasping arms and thrust the key into the angel's handcuffs, unlatching them from his long wrists. There was a hard squeeze behind his back, and the brace suddenly slipped loose from his wings.

The blonde stretched his wings wide and spun to stare at his former wing host. Satoshi was already being hauled to the ground by an outraged Maiku. The cop trained his weapon on Krad as he pegged Satoshi to the dirt by his sore ribs. "Freeze!"

Kouga and the rest of the squad were rushing in from the corners of the stage, coordinated into two teams. Dark's form straightened and casually pointed a feather toward each group. Violet flames burst to life around the quills. The men didn't stand a chance. A fierce exchange of gunfire and explosives left two men down and several others, including Kouga, crouching at bay behind the safety of the edge of the stage. Dark's form still stood, apparently unharmed, at the center of the platform. The black-winged angel tilted his head back and laughed. The man had completely lost it.

"Go!" Satoshi shouted, thrusting his bound hands at Krad as if he could push the angel away with the gesture. He shoved Maiku's aim wide and stared at the blonde desperately.

Krad took a wary step back. The decision was his. He was free. He could run if he wanted to.

A gust of wind blinded Satoshi and the officer as the angel took off in a burst of feathers and magic.

"Fool," Dark's voice sneered. He slammed a freshly shined loafer down onto Risa's stomach as she was sprawling away from him on the stage floor. "Allowing your deepest weakness to skip right up to you. I'll admit, she _is _a cute little thing. But hardly worth throwing away your freedom, I'd think."

"What?" Risa choked out as the words sank in.

Gorudo grinned until the whites of his violet eyes gleamed madly. "Weakness makes you imperfect, Black Wings. I'll do you a little favor, and wipe it out permanently. You get to watch." He lowered his palm toward the brunette.

Risa fell very still, tears streaming from her eyes. "Dark…please…"

The billionaire stretched his fingers. A ball of energy jumped to life between them. "Darling, this is going to hurt," he informed her venomously. Risa clenched her eyes and screamed as the light shot down at her.

A heavy impact crashed into her side, heaving her horizontally across the stage. The force punched a painful yelp from her lungs, and she knew she was flying sideways through the air.

It was odd, though. She'd expected Dark's magic to burn more. Moreover, the landing impact she'd expected didn't come. She had to think hard to realize she was still alive. Her eyes squinted open and her senses began coming back online. Her bruised-feeling face and side were pressed tight against warm fabric, and she began to notice that she was clutched firmly in someone's arms.

Relief poured through her. "Thank God… Dark," she whispered tearfully.

She felt a jolt and heard the thud of boots on plywood as her savior landed. Her disorganized senses told her they hadn't flown more than a few feet; that they must still be on the stage. The arms released her carelessly, and she found herself flailing ungracefully onto her butt. "Gently-!" she started to scold, when her rising gaze suddenly locked onto vibrant, golden irises. She froze beneath those yellow orbs, as if a lion were glaring down at her. "…Krad?" she whispered.

The angel frowned from his position over her, his solemn gaze impossible for Risa to interpret. His wings arched upward. Preparing. Warning. When he spoke, it was like an icy chill passing straight through her soul.

"_Run."_

**To be continued!**

**Pretty please let me know what you think! Thank you so much for reading!**

**Love,**

**Kat**


	42. Black Wings

_**Hi all! This chapter is not only unusually long, but also pretty heavy. I'm sorry for that in advance. I also want to assure everyone that this isn't the end of the story! Not yet. Please don't hesitate to share any feedback or ideas you might have with me when you're done!  
**_

_Relief poured through her. "Thank God… Dark," she whispered tearfully._

_She felt a jolt and heard the thud of boots on plywood as her savior landed. Her disorganized senses told her they hadn't flown more than a few feet; that they must still be on the stage. The arms released her carelessly, and she found herself flailing back onto her butt. "Gently-!" she started to scold, when her rising gaze suddenly locked onto vibrant, golden irises. She froze beneath those yellow orbs, as if a lion were glaring down at her. "…Krad?" she whispered._

_The angel frowned from his position over her, his solemn gaze impossible for Risa to interpret. His wings arched upward. Preparing. Warning. When he spoke, it was like an icy chill passing straight through her soul._

_"__Run."_

-o0o0oOOOOOOOOOo0o0o-

**Part 42 – Black Wings**

Risa's breath fluttered in and out of her chest as she stared at the angel that had just saved her life. _Krad had just saved her life. _

_And Dark had just tried to kill her. _

Her soul wanted to ache, but she didn't let it. Looking up at the gold-white being standing over her, she knew this moment wasn't about her. This was about Dark and Krad. It had always been about Dark and Krad, but it had been denied, so many times. Inconvenience or human interruption had delayed it again and again, but in the end, this fight had been inevitable since the instant they were both created.

"Krad," she barely breathed, "Please don't kill him."

The angel turned and walked past her, ignoring her plea. Every nerve in his body was thrumming in reaction to Dark's magic. Gorudo was turning toward him from the center of the stage. The man looked amused. That pissed Krad off.

"Seems you are no longer putting on any pretenses for your stakeholders," he observed.

"It no longer matters. I have no use for humans. I am something greater. You should understand that much, right, Krad Hikari? After all, we are the same in this regard."

The angel's eyes narrowed on the man wearing Dark's body like a costume. "Do not compare yourself with me," he snorted, forming a spell in the cup of his hand.

"Looking for more already?" Gorudo said in Dark's voice. "I could swear I just wiped the floor with you yesterday."

"Shut up and fight," Krad hissed.

The billionaire scoffed. "Why expend the effort myself?" He reached up and snapped his fingers. His Special Ops staff rushed up from the corners of the stage, weapons raising to aim on the Hikari. Shouts emerged from what remained of the crowd as they struggled to understand what was happening. Many of the reporters who had started fleeing before, when Gorudo fired into the throng, were now stopping to stare back at the angels from a "safer" distance. Cameras clicked and flashed around the stage while Gorudo's men took aim.

A round of gunfire silenced the air. Krad dropped low to the pavement. A bullet caught the outer edge of his calf, cutting into the bandage on his bad leg. The pain made him alert.

"Freeze and cease fire!" shouted a police officer from the edge of the stage. His men gathered behind him, regrouped for a second attempt to control the fight. They seemed confused about whether to aim for Gorudo's men or for the angels. The Special Ops, however, weren't as hesitant. They pulled their fire toward the new threat without hesitation.

The blonde shoved back to his feet and threw his arms wide. He fired a burst of white energy from each hand. The blasts bowled into Gorudo's men just before they fired on the police. Scanning their faces, Krad's gaze caught on the one officer he now recognized as Kouga. The cop and his team still seemed to be absorbing the fact that Gorudo's guards had just tried to kill them.

"Stand down," Krad directed the order to Kouga icily. He didn't bother to see if they complied, nor did he care. His attention shifted to Gorudo. Dark's power was brooding between them like an electric storm. It was intoxicating, exhilarating, and positively infuriating all at the same time. It was Dark's effect on him, and he was beyond holding it back.

He pulled a feather loose from his wing and held it in front of him with both hands. The white fronds burst into flame, building in size until the spell took up a two-foot diameter in front of him. "No more distractions. No more tricks," he snarled, his voice glowing with power. "Take me, if you can." He hurled the spell at his counterpart.

Gorudo threw his arms up in a costly energy shield around himself. The force pounded him back across the stage and sent him tumbling in a blur of violet, but the scalding power never made it to his skin. Before Krad could even make out whether the attack had hit, a return spell beamed into him like a sledgehammer to the chest. Krad slammed backwards into the soft form of Risa, who apparently hadn't taken his advice to run. She shrieked as he knocked her over and came down on her heavily.

"Damn it," the angel wheezed, scrambling away from her and back to his feet brusquely. He grazed his fingers across his chest, checking for blood. As soon as his balance was steady again, he launched up into the air.

Risa clenched her eyes against the blinding wind as the blonde took off. When she eased them open again, Gorudo was readying himself to pursue from the opposite side of the stage. "Wait! Dark!" she screamed, climbing to her knees. Her words failed to stop the dark angel from launching after his nemesis.

She cringed as she saw them lock together up above her. Black and white power flickered between the paranormal beings like a fireworks display. Then, still ripping into each other, they shot off in a hectic line along the edge of the park, where sheer cliffs towered over the rocky shore below.

Risa's eyes bristled with tears. Dark had been in control, for just a minute, but now he was gone again. As she watched the winged forms disappear behind the nearby trees, a sense of dread chilled through her. She had the awful feeling she would never get to speak to him again.

"Risa!" Riku shouted from in front of the stage. The brunette flinched at the sound of her sister's voice, forcing her gaze away from the skyline. Hattori was standing next to Rise, staring at the battle racing above them.

"Is everyone alright?" Satoshi demanded, jogging up to the edge of the stage.

"Commander! How did you both get loose?" Demanded Kouga. The police commander now looked thoroughly out of his element and uncertain how to lead his team. He pointed his gun at the bluenette half-heartedly.

Satoshi took a thorough study of the officer he'd trained, decided there was no way the man was prepared to shoot him, and ignored him. "We need to follow them," he said to Risa and Riku. "Is anyone hurt?"

Kouga bristled at the way the boy single-mindedly collected his friends to leave. "Hey. You're still under arrest."

"If you're going to shoot me, shoot!" Satoshi threw back. His cold voice was fierce and impatient – a tone the cop had never heard from his commander before. The boy seemed worked up. Worried. Well, who wouldn't be?

"Let's go," Risa confirmed as she jumped down next to them. She pushed her emotions under control and concentrated on taking action.

"I'll stay back," Riku said, lifting her crutches at her sides. "I'll slow you down with these, and I'm worried about Daisuke.

"Be careful," Satoshi said back. He turned to run after Risa and Hattori, who were already pushing through the crowd to head across the field in the direction the angels had flown.

**-o0o0OO0o0o—**

Krad grunted as a tanned fist slammed into his stomach. His insides protested the continued abuse. He caught the billionaire's arm and trapped it before sending a burst of energy straight into the other man's gut. Gorudo just smirked, unnaturally comfortable. The black angel grabbed Krad's shoulder with his free hand and drove his knee up into the blonde's chin. He kicked off Krad's chest like one would kick off the side of a swimming pool, putting space between them.

The blonde hung back in the air, working to catch his breath while the warm coastal wind whipped around them both. His pulse writhed in his chest like it wanted out. Like it knew about the one-way train wreck this fight was destined for. Nothing was holding them back this time, and they both knew it. He'd wanted this moment his entire existence. He'd even elevated it in his mind to a form of glorious ritual. Now that the moment had come, he was mostly only aware of adrenaline and pain. He'd always planned to destroy Dark face to face, rather than from behind the wall of a wing host. Still, that didn't change the fact that there was no turning back from it this time.

"Is this everything you hoped it would be, Hikari?" Gorudo sneered.

"And more," the blonde snapped.

"What a relief. My wing host doesn't seem to believe you'd have the guts to see it through to the end."

Krad's bronze glare stiffened on the violet-haired man. "He what?" the shock in his voice was real. Rage boiled through him. The thief would pay for underestimating him.

In a blur of feathers, he tackled Gorudo in midair and blasted him point-blank in the chest. Black wings jerked backward as power shot through the angel's body. Krad didn't give him time to recover. He hovered just over his opponent and sent a blast down across Gorudo's shoulders. The black-winged form careened downward. Krad followed his nemesis down and down, knowing he had him. Dark's body hit the ground like a ragdoll and skidded through the dirt.

Krad barely felt the ground under his feet as he walked toward his enemy. Gorudo twisted stiffly onto his side to try and pull the air back into his lungs. The angel didn't give him the time to succeed. He threw a pale arm out to his side and summoned a ball of golden light in his palm. "Now it finally ends, Mousy," he said. He stood over the prostrate angel, drinking in the moment, and aimed the spell at the center of his chest. Nothing living, not even Dark, could survive what he was about to fire through his rival's heart.

"Krad!" a voice shouted across the landscape.

_Satoshi. _

He could explain to the boy later. He could work with the boy through this, and through everything else, later.

"Krad, don't!"

He froze, caught between bitterness and something more. _He will not deny me this, _he convinced himself. _Later. There will be time for everything later. _

His palm flexed, coiling the spell like it was loaded on a heavy spring, ready to fire.

And he hesitated.

It only took a second to let that crucial moment of opportunity slip. Krad's attack flew wide as Gorudo flipped and bolted straight into him. Muscular arms slammed him backward into the sandy soil, and Gorudo's hands crushed around his throat. Krad wheezed and grabbed at the thief's powerful wrists with both hands, wrestling against the fierce grip.

"No," Satoshi murmured as the scene unfolded.

"Oh my god," Risa whispered. She'd seen the angels fight, but this was more than that. There was something about their movements, about the way their bodies clashed with each other in the sand. "They're really going to…"

"Like hell they are," the bluenette growled, bursting toward the interlocked angels.

"Sato, wait!" Risa called after him. She stared at the powerful creatures trying to kill each other. She told herself this was Dark. That was still Dark in there. She ought to want to go to him, but she could barely make herself move.

Satoshi grabbed one of Gorudo's arms and pulled at it with all his strength to break its hold on Krad's throat. Risa gathered her nerve and jumped in to do the same with his other arm. Sneering, Gorudo ignored their interference. He clenched down harder around the blonde's neck. A little more pressure, and he could snap his spine. Krad's expression contorted in pain. The blonde reached up soundlessly and scratched deep gouges into the other angel's wrists as his vision clouded.

"Gorudo!" Satoshi shouted. He gave up on outmuscling the angel and opted to throw a punch right in his face instead. It connected without resistance, and the bluenette immediately reared back to throw another wild blow, desperate to get him off Krad's neck.

That worked. Violet eyes shifted from Krad to the boy with a look of wholehearted disgust. "Your pet appears to be pissing on my shoes," he muttered to Krad. "Really, I'm almost disappointed. I thought you'd be more focused than this." He released the angel and collared Satoshi in the same swift movement. The boy wrestled to get free as he was pulled off his feet.

"Sato!" Risa gasped as Gorudo pushed her aside like a shower curtain. She sized the billionaire up, looking for some way to stop him. On the ground next to her, Krad rolled stiffly to his side, coughing. They needed help. "Dark, please!"

"Calling for him again? As much as he might like to watch over his absurdly needy human entourage, I'm afraid your so-called phantom thief can barely even muster the energy to move, after the little fight he put up earlier." Gorudo smiled handsomely. "I suppose I should thank you for getting it out of his system."

The blood drained from Risa's face. "Gorudo…stop this. The police will be here any minute."

The angel's expression soured. "An empty threat. The only reason you or the police are alive right now is because you don't have the power to stop me."

"Live out your delusions in your own body, you prick!" Satoshi snorted, tugging roughly to escape the angel's grip.

Gorudo didn't budge against the boy's fighting. Instead, he just cast his gaze toward the blonde on the ground in front of him. Krad looked up at him, still dazed. His gold eyes registered Satoshi's struggling form. The angel stiffened.

The blonde's fierce look just raised a smile to Gorudo's face. "You had the chance to kill me before. How boring, letting a petty human put you off course. He is tarnishing our glorious battle." He tugged Satoshi's struggling form higher off the ground and turned toward the sound of ocean waves smashing against rocks. "Since this seems to be such a distraction for you, I'll just dispose of it."

Satoshi's vision spun as he found himself hanging out over a sheer drop of at least thirty feet. "Let's see how well you fly, you little pest," Dark's voice whispered in his ear.

The billionaire didn't just drop the bluenette off the cliff. He literally threw him headfirst.

And he smiled to himself as a white blur blew past him over the edge.

Satoshi flailed in the air, quickly absorbing the fact that he was about to fall to his death. He stared at the rocky surf lurching toward him and braced for impact. Maybe he could survive this if he landed just right, but he certainly couldn't do it prettily.

A pale hand clenched around his upper arm, yanking him sideways. Another arm wrapped around his back and tugged him in against hot skin. Satoshi glanced up to find himself eye to eye with Krad. The angel looked as startled as he did. Satoshi could barely think as the blonde's powerful wings spread a wide canopy between them and the blinding sun.

Krad's arms secured him tightly and heaved up against their rapid descent. Going far too fast, they changed trajectory and pulled up horizontally. Instead of a jagged crash onto the rocks, Satoshi tumbled with his savior across a narrow strip of white sand and slid to a gravelly stop.

Satoshi opened his eyes carefully to the sound of Krad working to catch his breath through his bruised throat. The blonde was lying half on top of him in the sand. Seagulls were shrieking at them from the rocks nearby while the foamy waves chopped against each other a few feet down the shore. Satoshi smelled salty mist and seaweed. He could smell Krad, with his alluring earthiness. They weren't dead. Dead couldn't smell this good.

With his heart slamming in his ears, he realized he was clutching his fingers into Krad's shirt. The angel's muscled contours were hot beneath the cotton. The bluenette released his hands quickly, jerking backward into the sand. Satoshi tried to look up at the blonde, but Krad's arms were wrapped so tightly around him that he could barely get the space to make eye contact. In fact, the attempted movement seemed to make the angel's hold even tighter.

Satoshi didn't try to resist the bracing grip. Besides, his body was shaking too much to muster any strength to struggle. He settled, confused, under the blonde's weight. He didn't understand why he'd been rescued. After all, he'd just ruined the angel's long-awaited chance to kill Dark. The quiet between them stretched out like a living thing. "Krad?" he whispered, barely able to control his voice. "You okay?"

"Shut up," Krad snapped. The bluenette stilled, lying pinned between the angel and the sand.

A voice broke through the alternate dimension the two seemed to be trapped in. "Sato! Watch out!" Risa cried down over the cliff's edge above them, panic clenching up her throat.

Satoshi's gaze redirected from the blonde to the air above him. He could feel the angel tensing to look back over his shoulder, but Krad would never complete the movement in time to see what Satoshi already saw: Gorudo hovering a few yards above them, aiming a ball of pitch black energy at Krad's back. Static began to fizzle along the blonde's skin as Dark's building magic resonated with his own. Satoshi threw all his strength sideways, yanking Krad over top of him as he rolled. The spell struck right where they'd just been and exploded into the sand. The bluenette yelped and gripped Krad a little harder as broken shells pelted his back.

"You really are a bore, Krad. I seem to put you down for a round with every _single_ pathetic, sentimental trick. Do you intend to finish what we started, or should I just keep firing at humans until you dry yourself out?

Krad scrambled to his feet, breaking from Satoshi's grip. He wheeled immediately toward the black-winged figure floating above them. Indiscriminate hatred simmered in his amber glare.

"Dark!" Satoshi pleaded. "Snap out of it!"

"The only thing I'm interested in snapping is your neck," Gorudo offered.

Krad launched up at the black-winged angel and grabbed onto his ankle. With a fierce twist, he heaved the other man sideways and down into the sand. The billionaire flailed onto his back and lashed out defensively. A leather-clad heel caught Krad in the chest and knocked him backwards. Gorudo used the opportunity to get back to his feet, his tailored suit now caked with sand.

Krad grasped his chest in a daze, still aching from the blows he'd taken earlier. Violet eyes lit up with amusement as they noticed the angel's sensitivity. Smiling darkly, the billionaire began gathering the power for a spell. He didn't even notice the blue-haired boy's approach until a pale fist connected with the side of his jaw and jolted him sideways. The magic dispersed uselessly into the air around him. "Now _that_ was stupid," Gorudo snarled, his attention locking onto the unarmed boy.

Satoshi shook out his wrist and took a step back as those violet eyes scalded into him. He'd suddenly wanted the focus off of Krad, but now he was realizing that might not have been such a hot idea. Dark's fighting skills were extreme. Even if this were friendly sparring, he wouldn't want to know how it felt to take one of the angel's blows full-force.

Gorudo whirled, so easily and gracefully that it almost looked artificial, and threw a heavy kick at the boy's gut. Satoshi desperately threw himself sideways to avoid the angel's leg, but Gorudo seemed to be expecting that. As soon as he was off balance, a pair of tanned fists came down between his shoulders and dropped him flat to the ground.

The blonde straightened up, wide-eyed at the sight of Satoshi defending him. Before the boy or Gorudo could even see him move, Krad propelled himself forward into an agile roundkick, which slammed full-out into the side of Gorudo's head. The impact made a gruesome crunch as it hurled the violet-haired man to the ground in a blister of sand. The rough hit didn't seem to cause Gorudo any pain, but he nonetheless fell still. Perhaps that was a good sign that the angel was tiring.

Krad strode firmly to Gorudo's body to inspect it, while Satoshi just stared at the blonde. That kick would have killed a human being, easily. It was simple, in casual interaction with Krad, to forget just how dangerously strong he could be when he was pissed. The angel's graceful power left Satoshi so transfixed that he almost didn't notice the movement of Gorudo's hands in the sand.

The billionaire rolled to his back just as Krad was inspecting his prostrate form. ***Krad!* **Satoshi tensed as he saw from his vantage point what was about to happen. It was too late. Light radiated from Gorudo's hands, and a magic-assisted blast of sand shot straight up into the blonde's face. Krad snarled and staggered backwards.

"Krad!" Satoshi called. Gorudo was getting up again, and the blonde was just standing still, bent forward with a hand over his face. Satoshi grabbed Krad's shoulder and tugged him back out of the other angel's range. They didn't have time to be off guard. He tilted his neck to try to make out the angel's face. "What is it?"

Krad's fingers were clutched tight over both his eyes. "I can't see," he snapped.

"Show me," the boy ordered, pulling the hand aside. Krad gritted his teeth and squinted his eyes just barely open. His lids twitched convulsively as he struggled to see through the sand. Satoshi winced at the painful-looking tears that were oozing from the blonde's eyes. "Shit," he muttered as he stared at the damage. Gorudo was recovering a few feet away from them, climbing back to his feet, and Krad was effectively blind, not to mention exhausted.

The billionaire cast a fierce smirk at them. "Getting tired, Hikaris?"

***Here he comes,* **Satoshi warned the blonde. Gorudo swept in to take a shot at Krad's face. Satoshi barely even thought before jumping in. He threw his weight into the black-winged angel and bowled him sideways. Gorudo stumbled, not expecting the boy to jump in when the blonde was down. However, his agile body regained its footing before Satoshi's possibly could, and he wound up punching the boy in the face.

***Duck,* **Krad's voice warned inside Satoshi's head. The boy shook off the punch and obediently dropped to his knees in front of a smugly distracted Gorudo. A chest-high radial spell cut through the air around them. Satoshi just cleared the bottom of it, but it burned a neat gash across Gorudo's chest.

"You will pay for that, Hikari," the billionaire glowered at Krad, charging toward him with a translucent magical dagger forming in his hand.

Satoshi threw his leg out as Gorudo passed and snared him at the point of his stride. ***Catch.***

Krad threw his arm out to intercept the angel stumbling into him. He grabbed the first thing that touched him, Gorudo's sleeve, and hauled it sideways.

***Nicely done,* **Krad offered the boy coolly, though his pleasure was difficult to hide. For once, Satoshi was acting as his ally. Twisting the black angel in his grip, he trapped Gorudo by the arms facing away from him. The black angel struggled fiercely, one little slip away from having Krad and the kid at his mercy. ***At your leisure,* **Krad signaled the bluenette.

_Sorry Dark, but we're in serious danger here, _the boy thought. Satoshi grabbed a hunk of driftwood off the beach and swung it into Gorudo's side, knocking him out of Krad's grip like a pinata. While the billionaire was on the defensive, Satoshi quickly grabbed Krad's wrist and pointed it toward the recovering dark angel in front of them, aiming for Gorudo's center line. _***Shoot, now!***_

Krad couldn't see what was happening, but he decided to take the boy's word for it. With a deep breath and Satoshi's firm hands bracing his aim, he summoned the strongest blast he could afford and launched it straight ahead.

Gorudo made an effort to dodge, but his counterpart had fired quickly. The angel screamed in pain as the explosion blew into him. Satoshi watched the reaction grimly. If Gorudo was actually taking damage, that meant that Dark's reserves were growing extremely low.

The black angel began beating his wings to lift off the ground as he grasped his chest.

"No you don't! Stay where you are!" Satoshi warned. He started forward to physically impede the angel's takeoff, but he didn't want to leave Krad blind out in the middle of the open beach. Gorudo was too unpredictable right now.

He shielded his face as huge black wings whipped up the sand around them. In no time, the dark angel escaped the boy's reach, headed for the safety of the top of the cliff.

Krad cursed as he felt Dark's magic rising away. He took an uneven step toward the receding energy and crouched low to propel himself after his opponent.

"Krad, no!" Satoshi snapped, grabbing the angel by the arm with all his strength to keep him from taking off.

An angry golden glow came to Krad's bloodshot eyes. He shook the boy roughly from his arm and whirled on him. Satoshi landed hard on his butt in the sand and stared up at the blonde, frozen in the gaze of a predator.

Krad's lips pulled back in a snarl. For just a minute, he'd gotten a taste of what it might be like to fight with his partner on the same side, to lend each other their strength and intelligence. And now, once again, the boy was interfering.

A pale hand shot out and fisted stubbornly in the fabric of the blonde's pant leg. Krad's wings stretched up in an angry arch. He pulled at the boy's strong grip on his clothes and prepared himself to kick him in the face. "You still insist on protecting him?" he shot out.

"I'm protecting _you_, you ass! Are you insane? You can't even see!"

"I do not need your protection!"

"I know!" The boy's fingers clenched down a little tighter. "I know… Just fix yourself first."

Satoshi's quiet words held the blonde to the ground. The angel took a slow breath, staring at the boy with a baffled look. The boy sat up and slowly unknotted his fingers from the cloth without looking up at him.

Krad's eyes burned too much to keep open. Was the kid right? Was he rushing into this? The angel finally sighed and turned toward the sound of the waves, marching into the water to try to rinse the sand from his eyes. The loose rocks under the water shifted as he tried to cross them blindly. When his balance wavered on his bad leg, cool hands took hold of his arm and steadied him.

The angel's movement halted. He hadn't even heard the boy follow him. He thought of pushing the pale arms away, of trying to preserve his anger. Breathing, he took another step forward instead. Dark was getting away from him again, depriving him of his long-awaited victory, and yet he found himself strangely pleased with the boy's careful presence beside him. He knelt slowly into the tide and splashed cold seawater into his burning face.

**-o0o0oOOOo0o0o-**

Above, Risa and Hattori were staring at the scene from the cliff's edge. "Crap, Gorudo's coming! Back up," she squeaked to the vet next to her, holding out an arm to guide them both away from the edge. She closed and opened her fingers, ready to defend herself. She wished she had thought to bring some kind of weapon with her.

The black-winged angel rose up over the edge of the cliff, a picture of elegant power as his wings fanned out to return him to the ground in front of them. Risa stood terrified and spellbound at the way the angel stood like a painting against the horizon, all the while wondering how she was going to fight him off when he attacked them.

However, the regal image distorted quickly. As soon as Gorudo's feet touched the ground, he staggered, clutching at his chest. Risa stared with wide eyes as the angel didn't even bother to attack him. He groaned, and the pain took him to his knees. It made the girl's stomach twist. If Gorudo was feeling this much pain, it had to mean that Dark was at his limit. She started toward him.

"Risa," Hattori warned.

"I don't think he'll hurt me right now," she said with more confidence than she felt. "Dark?" she asked, extending a shaking hand toward his shoulder. Her fingers closed, inch by inch, around his tricep. A little bolder now, she crouched beside the angel. "Dark, can you hear me?"

One of the angel's tanned hands shot out and locked around her wrist. She felt like her arm would break as he twisted it sideways, forcing her to the ground next to him. Gorudo rose to kneel over her, pinning her arms to the grass. A crazed smirk replaced the pain he'd shown moments before. When he spoke, his voice was still tight from the wound on his chest, but he sounded amused more than injured.

"Still trying to call out to your precious Dark? How many times should I tell you that you can't reach him? Why would he want to see you anyway, after you ruined his one chance at freedom? You're his kryptonite, or did you really not notice?" He smiled cruelly as her expression fell.

"I- Why do you keep saying that?" she whispered.

"If you don't know why, then you truly know nothing. Then again, you're always like this, aren't you? Clinging and following, all the while knowing absolutely nothing about the creature you worship. Did you think he would be grateful? That he would long to escape just to speak to you?" He laughed while the agony built up in her eyes.

Risa's head shot up and smacked her forehead into his. He jerked back for a moment, surprised by her guts. Then he launched over her, pushing his hand into her throat and kneeling above her waist.

She needed Dark. Crap, they were all in over their heads, and they needed Dark. The sudden realization that they really might not be able to pull him back again paralyzed her. What if Dark died alone inside this maniac? What if he lived on, knowing he'd killed them all? What would that do to him? The only reaction she could muster in response to the fear was cold, hard anger. She was good at anger, when she needed to be.

"Listen to me, psychopath," she growled against the pressure around her throat. Tears rolled from her eyes and down her cheeks. "You may be waltzing around in Dark's body and head right now, but you're just a little kid with a fancy toy. Maybe you can abuse it until it breaks apart, and then you'll just be the same sniveling brat all over again. You don't get to pretend you understand what Dark needs. You don't get to understand me!

A heavy tree branch swung at the angel's head as Hattori stepped up to bat. Gorudo reached up and blew the weapon apart effortlessly before throwing a blast of light into the vet's stomach. Hattori yelped as the blast lifted him off the ground and heaved him backwards. He landed on the ground and lay still, trying to sort out his breathing.

Gorudo turned his glare back to Risa. One look at his expression warned that he was out of patience. "Now, you finally get to die," he snarled. A knife made of black energy formed in his hand.

"Coward!" she barely even choked as the angel's strong body held her in place. She was about to be killed, by the person she loved. Her pulse skipped as she realized what she'd just admitted to herself. Not that it really mattered now, as she stared up into those violet eyes distorted by cruelty. She couldn't watch him kill her. That couldn't be her last memory of him. She clenched her eyes and tried to think about flying with him over the city, safe in his arms. The memory felt so far away. Now it was all a distant fairytale, like some kind of mean joke. She rested her fingers tenderly over Dark's hand around her neck and dissolved into sobs.

A few seconds later, she managed to realize that she wasn't dead yet. Something warm dripped onto her collarbone. Risa clenched her eyes harder and waited for the pain to come.

More warmth. Drip, drip.

She cracked open an eyelid and discovered glowing violet eyes staring down into hers. The angel's nose was bleeding in a heavy trail across his lips and chin.

She didn't question the situation. Her hands shot up and snatched the black spear out of his hands. He didn't stop her.

She threw the weapon aside and stared at him. "…Dark?" she barely breathed against the weight of the hand that was leaning into her throat.

The pressure eased suddenly. The tanned hand that had choked her jerked up and went to the ground next to her, catching the angel's weight heavily. She opened both eyes then, staring hopefully up at those beautiful purple irises.

"Risa," his familiar voice murmured soothingly. More blood was dripping into the crook of her neck. She realized for the first time that was what it was. Her lips parted in worry, but he stopped her with a smile that made her heart shudder. "Let's get one thing straight," the angel said, touching her cheek with a warm hand. His fingers felt shaky against her skin, but his voice wasn't. Violet orbs looked down into hers softly. "You are not a weakness."

He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "You're my strength. You've always been my strength."

Dark's fingers shook a little worse against her cheek, but didn't move away. They stayed against her soft skin like she was a lifeline. "Risa," he said, urgency trickling into his beautiful voice. "I'm sorry. I need you to stop me now. Before I destroy Krad and everyone else."

"Dark, you won't. Just stay with me," Risa said. She sniffed back her tears as she realized she couldn't afford to upset him right now. He looked alright. He always looked alright. But he wasn't. With a deep breath, she raised her hands to his cheeks firmly. "Look at me, and concentrate."

"No, you don't understand," the angel muttered. His voice was starting to tremble as badly as his hands. "It's like he's tearing apart my head from the inside. This won't last long."

She stared up at him with wide eyes. The angel was so good at acting calm and collected that it was hard to remember that he was at his limit right now.

"Risa!" Hattori called to them from the ground nearby. "Look."

The girl tore her eyes away from Dark's neon gaze to follow Hattori's eyes toward the trees. Daisuke was making his way toward them, supported by the tall figure of Trap at his side. The boy was carrying something in his arms. _The machine._

"Stay together, Dark. Just for a little longer," she told the angel confidently, holding the sides of his face in her hands to keep him focused. "Daisuke is coming. We're going to fix this."

The angel's nosebleed was getting worse. "Risa," he scratched out. "I'm already...too…" Her heart tugged in shock as she felt warm liquid escape his eyes and drip down her fingers. She'd never been able to imagine the thief scared, until now. She hated herself for not knowing what to say to him, when he needed her this much.

"Daisuke!" she called out as the redhead finally got to them. "Hurry."

The redhead ran forward on his own and dropped quickly to kneel next to the angel, while Trap stopped a few yards back. Daisuke's garnet eyes widened with alarm as he saw his soulmate's condition. "Dark, it's me," he said breathlessly as he scattered the machine components on the ground in front of him. The angel was still kneeling over Risa. Daisuke thought about trying to guide him off of her, but Risa's gaze warned him not to move him. _Nothing sudden,_ her eyes warned him.

"Daisuke's setting up the machine," Risa said, stroking her thumbs across the angel's cheekbones. Her voice was calm and impossibly confident as she reassured him. "Just another minute. You're doing great."

Daisuke assembled the machine as quickly as he could with his shaking hands. He reached out and gently fastened the sensors around Dark's chest. The angel's breathing advanced to a series of frantic gasps as Gorudo thrashed out from inside him for control. He stared into Risa's soft, strong eyes and focused on her with everything he had. Daisuke's gentle hands drew his shaking palm away from her cheek and slid sensors over his first and third fingers.

"Trap," Daisuke whispered uncertainly. It was a struggle to remember the process when his soulmate was suffering so badly right in front of him.

The scientist hung back at a cautious distance, mesmerized by the scene. His careful investigation of the Black Wings' humanity at the lab seemed absurd in light of the blatant anguish he was witnessing now. "Power up the machine. Allow 30 seconds for it to connect to the signal from the main unit." Even he was shocked by how clinical his voice sounded. Maybe this was just the way he responded when he was…was he worried?

"We don't have that long," Daisuke threw back as he powered on the control box.

Dark's focus wavered, blackness flashing in and out of his shining amethyst eyes.

"He can make it," Risa corrected firmly. "You're going to make it," she insisted to the angel above her. Her soft brown eyes held his attention with stern confidence.

The angel responded with a stiff nod as he fought for control. He was scared. He was pissed. He was grateful, and then scared all over again. The moments passed, each one deeper, threatening to swallow him alive.

"Fifteen seconds left," Daisuke encouraged him. His voice wove in and out of the thief's consciousness. "Twelve. Ten."

"_**FREEZE! PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND STEP AWAY FROM DARK MOUSEY!" **_ A megaphone shattered the quiet concentration of the group.

The angel stiffened, pain clouding his eyes.

_No…we're so close…_ "Please, you can't distract him!" Daisuke shouted.

"Dark, stay focused. Ignore everything else!" Risa pleaded as an armed SWAT team rushed in around them.

"Move away from Dark. That means now! We will fire!"

There was no way Daisuke was moving right now. A warning bullet whizzed past his head.

"Five seconds, Dark" he gasped, staring at the machine. The angel drew a thick gasp and nodded.

Another warning bullet fired, this one grazing across Risa's shoulder. The girl flinched in pain, grasping the shallow wound. Too late, she realized she'd broken Dark's gaze. Her eyes snapped back up to him, but he wasn't looking at her anymore.

"No, Dark," Risa breathed as the angel's ebon wings began to stretch upward in a jerky, menacing movement.

The black angel straightened slowly and turned a dark gaze on the police, whose weapons were uselessly trained on him. "You have served your purpose," he said in a hard tone, raising a hand upward. A beam of power shot through his fingertips and mowed its way across the heavily armed squadron like he was knocking over bowling pins. A few cries of shock and pain escaped from the men, and then only silence.

"That's better, don't you think?" Gorudo smiled as he turned toward Risa and Daisuke, rising to his feet. "I _loathe _distractions." He wiped Dark's blood idly from his face and showed his palm to the redhead and the brunette. "And then there's my other pet peeve - loose ends." Power began swirling around the blood in his palm while the angel's eyes glowed a deep, feral violet.

Daisuke's eyes hardened. "Everyone, spread out, now!"

Gorudo threw his head back and laughed as they wisely avoided him. Not that it would save them. He lazily pointed his spell at the redhead, deciding he may as well deal with the boy first. That brat's death seemed likely to deal the most damage to Dark, and he was in the mood for retribution after the angel's brazen defiance.

He stretched out his fingers, eager to fire, but a new source of magic raised the hairs on his arms. He spun to look behind him, toward the cliff. Krad was rising up over the edge, a ball of power already prepared in his hands. The angel was soaked in seawater from the face down, but his electric gaze seemed to stop it from looking comical. There was something truly lethal lurking in the blonde's cold expression. "Should have run when you had the chance," Krad condemned. There was no hesitation as he opened fire.

**-o0o0oOOOo0o0o-**

On the shoreline below, Satoshi ran to the wall and pounded his fist into the rocky cliff while Krad's form disappeared over the top. "Krad! Damn it. KRAD!" he screamed up at the angel. After all that… after everything that just happened, he'd been left behind.

_-oOo—_

"_You were going to kill him," Satoshi whispered from beside the blonde, supporting his arm for balance while the angel rinsed and worked the sand carefully out of his eyes. There was no accusation or judgment to the words; they simply were._

"_Yes." _

_The boy ran his hand thoughtfully through the knee-deep water they stood in. "Do you wish you had?"_

"…_Yes."_

"_Sure about that?" Satoshi grinned just slightly at the hesitation he heard in Krad's voice. _

"_We were meant for this," the blonde said, seriously. "This must be finished, before…" he caught his words quickly, "Before anything else can begin."_

"_But why? I don't understa—" Satoshi broke off as a bullhorn and several gunshots went off above them._

"_Crap," the bluenette gasped. "Risa and Hattori are alone up there." _

_Krad glanced up at the sky, scanning it for Gorudo. That pompous idiot was deliberately messing with him, and so far, the Hikari knew he was playing into every trick. _

_Satoshi didn't miss the dangerous malice revving up in the blonde. "Krad, how much strength do you have left?" _

"_Enough," the angel said hoarsely._

"_Liar," Satoshi muttered. "Look… Channel mine."_

"_Impossible. You are no longer a wing host," Krad said. Tension pulled at his expression. Satoshi could see that the angel was the worse for wear. The magic he'd used was already costing him. _

"_You healed me last night. Don't tell me energy can't flow in the other direction," Satoshi said, touching his healed ribs. There was unease in his eyes, despite his best efforts to hide it, as he raised his gaze to Krad's. The remembered agony of feeling his life force sucked away without reserve was too much a part of him to completely ignore, even when Krad had just saved his life._

_The angel flushed at the fear in the boy's expression. "No." He stood up and spread his wings. "Stay, and don't interfere." _

"_Wait!" Satoshi scrambled to follow him, but the angel was already off the ground. "Krad!"_

_-oOo-_

"Krad! When I get up there, I'm going to kill you!" The boy was still shouting, looking for a handhold on the rocky cliff. He couldn't see what was going on up above, but the police had gone quiet, and that couldn't be a good thing. His mental link with the angel was giving him nothing; he wished the blonde hadn't learned how to control it so well. He couldn't stand not knowing what was happening.

An explosion echoed through the air, loosening gravel from the cliff face above him. Satoshi shielded his eyes and squinted up to see both angels launch into the sky, locked together. They circled and maneuvered around each other, wickedly fast. The very air around them seemed to brim with violence. First one angel would take a hit, tumbling off balance. Then they'd be right back in each other's faces again, the other getting blown back. The two were so evenly matched at this point that it was impossible to tell who was taking more damage.

Satoshi could hear Daisuke too now, calling up at Dark from the cliff's edge above. The redhead was frantically struggling to bring them both back from their killing edge, just like Satoshi. But they were out of reach, in every way possible. Even trying to send a message to Krad's mind was like coming up against a brick wall.

The fear started in the small of the bluenette's back and worked its way up through his chest and stomach, until it seemed to seize his entire body. He threw himself onto the stone face and climbed for all he was worth. Why couldn't he shake this feeling? _Something horrible was about to happen._

By the time he made it up to the grass, his arms were shaking almost beyond use. Hattori and Risa had heard him shouting up at Krad, and they'd been there at the ready to pull him the last few feet over the edge. Risa pulled him into a frightened hug, clinging to him protectively as they both stared up at the sky. He'd managed to resist looking at the battle while he was climbing, but now that his eyes sought Krad's shape in the air, he could see from much closer than before just how hard the two were going at it.

The violence was not for show. Damage was being dealt. That much was obvious as a spray of blood spattered down across both their faces. Satoshi wiped the liquid from his cheek and stared at it in dull horror. Was this Dark's? Or maybe…was it…

***Damn it, Krad! Let me in!* **he howled at the blonde's mind.

**-o0o0o-**

Krad sank back in the air with a dizzy gasp as another punch blew into his ribs. He crested his wings to catch his backward slip, heaving himself back up into Gorudo's space. He summoned a dagger of light and thrust it toward the black angel's chest, but at the last second, he went wide and struck Gorudo's arm instead. _Damn, I did it again,_ he scolded himself. That was the third time he'd given up the chance to finish his opponent off. Why, after all these years, was he missing the commitment he needed _now_?

"Almost out of strength, Krad?" Gorudo sneered. "It seems to me you're wasting quite a few opportunities. Squeamish about killing your old rival?"

"And you're wasting an awful lot of time talking. It's been a while since you've used any magic. Running low?" Krad scoffed. He grabbed Gorudo's wounded arm and swung him sideways before delivering a swift kick to his gut.

He froze as his heel met with empty air. Gorudo was no longer where he'd been. An invisible rope suddenly wound around the blonde's neck and hauled him backwards. The magical force cut into his skin like fire. _What? _He'd never seen the thief move that fast.

"Oh, I have some power left," Gorudo smirked as he floated around the struggling blonde. He grabbed the front of Krad's shirt and leaned in until their faces nearly touched. His voice was twisted with hatred as he whispered , "I saved it just for you."

The black angel drew his right hand back and summoned a wave of violet power. A set of black crystal shards materialized in the air beside him, trembling like a swarm of arrows drawn on an invisible bow. Krad's gaze hardened as he recognized the spell he'd protected Satoshi from the night before. "This…again?" he choked out against the bind on his neck, staring at the crystals. He didn't feel like taking another round from those things. He was fairly certain he wouldn't be able to fly through the pain. That would give Gorudo plenty of time to-… His thoughts flickered to the humans screaming up at them from the ground.

With a toss of his arm, Gorudo sent the spears hurtling toward the blonde's chest. Krad ripped through the binding spell on his neck with a sharp groan and thrust a shield into place ahead of him. He poured magic into the forcefield, making it as strong as he could, but there was just no time, and not enough power.

The half-formed shield shattered apart, spraying magical shrapnel all around them while Gorudo's shards connected with their target.

Krad screamed; he couldn't stop himself. The pain made him curl over and sink back in the air, each breath cutting him apart. Somewhere above him, Gorudo was laughing. The sound grated in and out of his shattered nerves.

He reached to one of the daggers and wrapped his hand around it tightly. Time seemed to freeze for him in that one second. He'd expected the crystal to send pain through his hand in an electrifying wave. Instead, it felt cool and solid, and wet.

_Crap._

Apparently, the spell was not the same this time. It had done much more than just simulate pain. _Crap, crap, crap! _His head spun as he began to feel unnaturally cold.

A sense of solemn determination pulled his senses together as he remembered his counterpart, laughing above him. There was no time. No choice. Not anymore. He summoned a golden spear, as long as he was tall, into his left hand. His other arm shot up and grasped onto the black angel's ankle. In a cold, mechanical movement, he tugged Gorudo's body down toward him and thrust the spear up.

Dark's true eyes flashed into focus and locked with Krad's as the two met chest to chest in the air, each impaled on the other's weapon.

The blonde's expression weakened. He and Dark looked at each other as if completely lost.

"Krad," Dark breathed, looking down at the damage between them. The shock ran through his face as his gaze flashed back to the blonde's. "I didn't want -," his throat tightened up in stunned silence.

Krad looked at Dark's earnest expression and grimaced. "Shut up. You shut up." He gagged on the pain as he clenched a fist around the black angel's shirt front. Dark stared in horror and didn't even fight the contact as the blonde half-hung against his chest. Golden eyes met violet, studying, accepting. "That was the single… least satisfying thing… I've ever done," Krad murmured wetly. Regret and utter disappointment filled the silent air between them as they stayed locked together in the sky. Finally, it was Krad who pushed off from the thief and set a ragged course for the trees nearby.

Dark stared at his falling nemesis hollowly. His hands drifted to the huge spear protruding from his chest, as if to remind himself it was really there. He gripped it and hauled the weapon free. A tight moan pulled from his lungs. His hands trembled as he dispersed the spear into a shower of golden sparks. He wanted to puke, or pass out, or both. With swirling vision, he scanned the ground below him and managed to cut a generalized trajectory toward Daisuke and the others.

They rushed to meet him, catching his rough descent where he landed. Risa and Daisuke each grabbed one of his arms and supported him as his knees tried to buckle.

"Down! Get him down!" Hattori was demanding. In a blur, the angel found himself on his back in the grass. Everything below his waist was numb. That didn't seem good. They were talking to him, and he was missing most of it. He blinked in frustration as their voices came in and out. This was pathetic.

"Get more pressure on it. Risa, hold this down. Harder, with your whole weight."

"Trap, it's… the other side is…" Riku's voice was shaking. _Odd,_ he thought, _when had she gotten there_?

"I know, just press down."

The angel's lips pulled up in a faint smirk. "Never seen you…this stressed, doc."

No one laughed. Bunch of sticks in the mud.

"The machine's ready," Trap said from somewhere off to his left. No way, even the mad scientist was worked up.

"Hang on, Dark. We'll fix you. We just need to restore our link, and you'll be fine."

The boy was crying. Shit. He wanted to make some offhand remark to defuse the panic in Daisuke's eyes, but he held it back. He couldn't do that to him; he couldn't run away from what was happening. "Daisuke," he breathed slowly, "It would kill you."

"No, it won't. Just hang on, we'll connect you to the-"

"Daisuke."

"-machine, then we'll separate you from,-"

"Daisuke!" The boy finally stopped talking and stared down at the angel. Dark met the boy's frightened garnet eyes. "Gorudo's already dead."

The redhead's skin slowly drained of its color. "What?" he barely whispered.

Dark cast the boy an apologetic smile. "This body is dying. The machine can't separate us now."

The boy's eyes glossed over. "Then you…will… What will you…?" He began shaking, unvoiced sobs shuddering through his chest.

Hattori put a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "Daisuke, the blood's not stopping," he whispered.

"No. There has to be a way." His ruby eyes blazed into the thief's. "You always figure something out, Dark. Tell me how to fix this!" he demanded.

The angel smiled at him. He reached up and thumbed a tear gently away from Daisuke's cheekbone. "My crazy Niwa boy. So strong, but always crying."

Daisuke choked back a sob and clasped the angel's hand tightly in both of his own. "Dark, stop it."

The angel smirked and squeezed his fingers back. "I'm sorry, kid. I had fun."

"Dark…?"

His eyes drifted to Risa, who was clutching his wound like it was the last thing she'd ever do. His smile took on a different kind of softness as he saw the tears in her eyes. "None of that, my lady."

He felt horribly cold. _I want to stay with them,_ he asked in the quiet of his mind. He wasn't sure who he was asking. Was there a god for things like him? Or maybe he would simply disappear. His fingers closed around Daisuke's a little tighter. He couldn't see very well, but he could feel the boy's tears plunk down on the back of his hand.

"Okay," he murmured with a soft smile. "It's okay, Daisuke." Suddenly the boy's arms were around him, pulling his upper body up into a tight embrace. Dark put a pale hand on the back of the boy's neck. "It's okay," he whispered. This time, the words didn't quite make it out correctly. His hand slipped from Daisuke and fell down somewhere.

"Dark," Risa breathed, still pressing down on the wound with all she had. "No you don't. Get back here. _Dark!"_

The angel's gaze darkened as if he'd just remembered something. Crap, he was almost out of time.

"Satoshi," he rasped. The bluenette leaned forward with a solemn frown, watching him carefully. Dark's smile had drained from his face, and regret replaced it. He spoke slowly, with calculated effort.

"I'm sorry about Krad."

The light in the thief's eyes stiffened and then faded, even as Satoshi's pulse began to falter.

"What?" Satoshi murmured to a body that could no longer answer him.

"Dark!" Daisuke shouted, jiggling the angel's too-still form.

While the others began calling out to the motionless angel, Satoshi slowly drew up to his feet. His heart felt like a mad drum inside his chest.

"_I'm sorry about Krad."_

Where was Krad? What the heck was that supposed to mean? Dark has attacked him, but he'd seen that spell the night before. It wasn't lethal. However, Krad was probably sitting in the woods someplace with those awful things stuck in his body until someone pulled them loose. That must be what Dark meant.

What was wrong with him? Krad deserved to wait for a bit, after stranding him like that. His friends were all hurting, and Dark was… gone, right in front of him, and all he could think about was…

Damn it, he'd told that bastard not to get carried away. They were here to save Dark, not kill him. He should have known the angel had no self-control. He should have known better than to rely on that sadistic jerk for anything. He couldn't even seem to feel what he ought to about Dark's death, because this was all his own fault. He fumed with anger as he turned from the others and made his way down an overgrown trail in the general direction Krad had flown off. He didn't even think about the SWAT team member whose unconscious body he stepped over as he stormed into the woods. His full focus was on Krad as he stormed through the forest to find the angel that betrayed his word.

It was only a few hundred feet into the dense brush that he spotted the blonde. Those huge snowy wings made quite an impression against the thick green foliage. Satoshi could see him sitting up against a broken tree trunk with his back to the trail, his wings resting in the greenery on either side of him. Pulling branches out of his way with both hands, he broke off from the trail toward the white-winged form.

He rounded the side of the fallen tree to face the angel. There, his feet froze on the ground. He knew what he'd find, but that didn't change the impact of seeing the blonde hunched forward over his own wounds. The pain was written all over him, from the tightness of his face to the way his hands were clenched at his sides. Dark's spear-like shards were protruding from his chest and torso like arrow shafts, buried deep in his flesh.

He looked up at Satoshi as he approached. The boy returned the look with a glare. "I hope you're happy, Krad. Because no one else is. Damn it, you and your stupid revenge!" Satoshi growled.

Krad didn't show much reaction except to look down at the ground in front of him. "Dark is…"

"He's dead, Krad!"

"I know," the angel replied quietly. He raised an arm to gesture toward his head. "I feel it."

Satoshi crossed his arms and surveyed his former curse. Krad's breathing was stilted, stiffening each time his chest tried to expand against the agonizing shards stuck inside him. _I should just let him stay this way,_ Satoshi thought sourly. Why, after all the garbage Krad had put him through, was it still so hard to just walk away. _I'll pull them out. Then I can scream at him all I want without getting distracted._

He took a step forward and knelt down in front of the blonde, meeting his confused yellow eyes with a glare. "This does not mean we're okay," Satoshi warned him. He grabbed one of the shards and ripped it loose in a rough movement.

A started cry broke from the blonde. The sound put ice in Satoshi's stomach. He stared at the blade he'd pulled loose, which rested harmlessly in his hand before dissolving into magical energy. It wasn't hurting him. Why didn't it hurt this time? He looked back to the blonde's chest, and spotted it. A stream of dark red, oozing through the wet black cotton of his shirt. That wasn't just seawater. He placed a hand slowly against the fabric, and it came away splotched with crimson. "Krad…" he breathed, staring at his hand.

He stared at the protruding weapons, his teeth clenching until they started to ache. He couldn't look at them. He had a compulsive need to pull them out, to throw them as far away as he could. Something inside him was starting to shake. "Get out of him," he breathed to himself with widening eyes. He took hold of the top two shards that were buried between Krad's ribs and pulled them loose in slow horror. They landed on the mossy ground at his sides as he cast them away. In moments, they were all out, but the damage was still there. Krad's blood was dripping down his arms and into the front of his shirt. Satoshi sat back on his heels in the moss with his hands soaked in blood, looking ready to black out.

Krad leaned heavily against the tree trunk, his breathing ragged. He winced as something touched his waist and began pulling his shirt up. His hand caught the boy's pale wrist tightly. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Bandaging it," Satoshi muttered. Why was he getting so worked up?

The angel pushed his hand away tiredly. "It's fine."

Satoshi's blue eyes glistened. "Don't be stupid, you're bleeding all over the place!"

The blonde's head rolled for a moment before he brought it carefully up to meet the eyes of his former tamer. "Dark," the blonde murmured.

Satoshi didn't miss the dizziness that was leaking into the angel's voice. It seemed like Krad's focus was degrading dangerously fast. "Look, Daisuke is with Dark. I'm with you. Just stay focused." He stared into the angel's dilated eyes for a sign he was still listening. "Krad, open up. Let me see what's happening." Fear crept into his eyes. Was the blonde dying? There was so much blood. He needed to sense for himself what was going on. He needed to do something about this awful feeling growing in his gut.

The angel shook his head blearily. "I don't want… you to…" Golden eyes met the boy's, full of emotions Satoshi couldn't read.

Satoshi braced Krad's face in his hands and leaned in almost nose to nose with him. "I'm not going anywhere, so drop the shields. Whatever you're feeling, I can handle it!"

"Satoshi-sama," the angel murmured. He stared into his tamer's eyes. A strange tenderness radiated from Krad's soul to the boy's, but that was all the angel allowed through.

"Krad, you're scaring me," the boy studied him with wide blue eyes.

Krad's body shifted. Satoshi stopped breathing as a warm mouth rose up and overlapped his. Krad's smooth lips closed the short distance between them and pressed against him with a kind of startled urgency.

Satoshi jerked back, his mouth still buzzing with the warmth of the contact. In a sheer reflex, his hand flew up and whipped across the blonde's cheek. The blow snapped Krad's face to the side. Satoshi flushed and drew his hand back to his chest in a wide-eyed trance while Krad stared at the empty space next to him. If Krad was shocked by his own actions, it didn't show. He slowly returned his gaze to Satoshi. The bluenette's chest ached unreasonably as he watched the blonde's expression. Krad looked resigned and exhausted, …and sad. All Satoshi could seem to make himself do was stare. "Listen," he muttered, wiping a wrist across his tingling mouth, "Keep still. I'm going to go get the vet, and he'll -"

"No. Stay."

Irritation crept into the bluenette's tone. "Krad, you need help!" Did the blonde really have to be so bossy at a time like this?

The angel barely shook his head. "Just be quiet, and stay."

Satoshi's heart drummed madly. The angel was dying. _His _angel was dying. Nothing would fix him. Not in time. Krad was dying. _Krad was dying. _If he stayed here, he was admitting it.

He stood to go, taking a step back from the angel. Krad watched him without comment.

The boy paused a few steps away and turned back toward the blonde slowly. He retraced his steps and dropped to a seat at Krad's side, shoulder to shoulder against the fallen tree.

"Staying?" Krad asked quietly.

Satoshi put his bloodstained hand carefully over Krad's on the ground between them. ***Yeah. As long as you need.***

He closed his eyes to focus on steadying his manic heartbeat. He was fighting the urge to run, to be anywhere but there. They didn't talk or even look at each other. He just stayed, his fingers locked with Krad's, listening to the angel's breathing grow worse and worse. Even when the air was finally silent and the hand he was holding began to lose its heat, he kept very still, listening to his own breathing now and refusing to look at the angel beside him.

"You ass," he whispered. "What's the point of being pissed at you if you're dead?"

A strange warmth under his fingertips finally made the boy open his eyes and look down at the body beside him. The angel's skin was beginning to glow and dissolve into flickering wisps of light. Satoshi clasped harder onto Krad's hand as it started to disappear. The solid skin burst apart into thousands of weightless, tiny embers, shining like gold.

Satoshi didn't want gold. He wanted Krad's hand. The lights multiplied as the angel's body rapidly disappeared. "Hey!" he snarled, launching to his feet. "Put him back! Don't you dare take him!" he screamed into the air. He threw a punch through the formless embers. They swirled with the air, the way dust particles danced before a window, unaffected by his violence. Then, as if summoned by something, they began floating away.

Satoshi ran after the trail of light as it migrated toward the path he'd traveled earlier. His heart hammered in his throat. He reached out, with his link, with his soul, anything that might still be able to reach the angel. _***Krad!* **_

There was nothing there. It was as if their connection had never even existed. He was running now, chasing the swarm of lights as they threatened to escape his view among the trees. He felt like if he lost sight of them, everything would end.

He picked up speed, nearly falling face-first as he ignored the uneven ground at his feet. As he spun around the base of a large tree, he found himself face to face with a bleary-eyed and equally breathless Risa and Daisuke. The bluenette skidded to a halt to avoid bowling them both over. "What's happening?" he demanded as soon as he saw the panic-stricken looks on their faces.

"Dark… Dark's body has-," Risa choked out, gesturing to their right. A flurry of amethyst sparks was swarming upward, meeting up with the gold-glowing trail Satoshi had been chasing.

"What the hell?" Hattori muttered as he and Riku finally caught up behind them. He observed the two-toned embers glowing together above them. A look of realization darkened his face. "Satoshi… Don't tell me the white one, too?"

The lights stopped migrating, now that they'd drawn to each other. Violet and gold mixed together in the air about twenty feet off the ground. The light swirled and began to create wind. It blew the leaves on the ground in a restless circle. As the light packed thicker in the air, it began to grow brighter and larger, gaining intensity until it was almost impossible to look at. Gold and Violet both lost their definition in the blinding hue.

"Satoshi! What's happening?" Daisuke shouted over the rushing wind.

The bluenette just squinted into the blaze. He didn't care what it was. All he knew was what it wasn't. He realized he felt angry. Whatever was taking shape in front of him, it wasn't Krad. And he hated it.

The light swelled and then stretched slowly, long legs and arms extending from the center. Risa's eyes slowly focused and grew wide as the light started to die down and reveal a lone, silvery figure above them.

He was tall, maybe taller than either of the angels. White hair hung in wild, silken tufts around his face and shoulders and then cascaded down his back like a river of light. His lean body and angular face were both impossibly beautiful and unmistakably male. The long white robe that hung open from his chest down was tailored to his every curve and flared out in an angled lapel around his neck. Silver crosses latched the front closed and hung along his sleeves from the peak of his shoulders. A triangle of skin stood exposed where the garment flowed open just above the lip of his white pants.

The figure raised his arms out slowly, and a pair of silver wings materialized behind him, stretching up around him like bows of light. Even though the blinding magic had died down, the figure was no less dazzling, as if filled with an inner light. The winds swirling around him slowed and stilled. So did the sound of the waves breaking beyond the cliff, and Satoshi could swear it happened on command.

"Sato!' Risa breathed, and even her whisper was like some kind of forbidden interruption of the scene taking place above them.

The angel's eyes opened, irises as white as the sun, and looked down at the humans gathered on the ground. For the first time, that perfect face took on expression. Marble lips curled back in unmitigated disgust. The air around his head began to glow with a bright aura.

"Oh my god… It's a halo…" Riku murmured, unable to look away.

"Satoshi," Daisuke's voice was still raw with tears. "What… what the hell is that?"

The bluenette stared at the malice in those white-hot eyes and took a step back. His whole body wanted to run, like the instinct of a prey animal. "I think," he whispered, barely holding his voice together against the overwhelming sense of inferiority that pounded through him,

"I think that's the Black Wings."

**- To be continued. -**

**o0o0oOOOo0o0o**

**So… um…**

***blink***

***blink***

**Should I hide myself in a bunker now? Please don't kill me!  
**

**Thoughts? Reactions? Requests?  
**

**Thank you for bearing with me while I was creating this very long chapter. As you may imagine, there was no good stopping point, so it is twice the length of the previous installments. There are mean cliffhangers, and then there are "holy shit, are you even human?" cliffhangers, and I try to draw the line at the former! **

**Love,**

**Kat**


	43. Cracks

**Part 43: Cracks**

"The Black Wings… is that even possible?" Daisuke choked out. Like the rest of them, he was awestruck by the powerful elegance of the winged being that had just taken form in front of them.

Satoshi shook his head no, even as his lips formed the word "Yes." The bluenette's legs locked stubbornly beneath him as the newly formed angel turned piercing silver-pupiled eyes down on them. He wanted to scream. He wanted to hate the creature in front of them that both was and wasn't Krad. "Our families originally ripped the Black Wings in half," his shaking voice murmured. "Now that those two pieces have—"

He couldn't say it. He couldn't bring himself to use the word "died". "Now that they have nothing left to bind to...it looks like they've melded together again."

Daisuke's red pupils shrank to small dots as he met the stranger's eyes above him. "This isn't right, Satoshi. This _can't_ be right."

"He's coming," Hattori warned as the ethereal form banked toward them. Watching the balletic perfection of the angel's landing was enough to make even the most graceful dancer ashamed. Agile wings curved like the wind itself behind his back while his silver hair whipped around him. Even making landfall didn't change the impression that he was somehow floating as he walked toward them.

"…Dark?" Risa was the first to try to speak. "Dark, please say that you're in there." The hope aching in her red-rimmed eyes mirrored the devastated expressions of the others.

The angel's clear gaze was so immense and indifferent that Risa thought it might suck her apart. "The one you call Dark is not here. He is not anywhere," he said, his voice glowing like the sun. He touched his chest with two graceful fingers. "If you mean his memories, they are here. They belong to me, now."

Satoshi took a protective step closer to Risa. "Then you remember us?" he asked. An unkind tone lay beneath his composed words.

The Black Wings cast an appraising stare over Satoshi and the rest of the group. "Satoshi Hikari, the late Krad's twelfth wing host. Pathologically distrustful, defiant of your role as wing host, and the only individual to survive Krad's pathetic lack of reserve in battle. Risa Harada, supposed love interest of the Hikari wing host. Or perhaps more accurately, the object of the late Dark's shaky emotional attention. How strange, for such an absurd and vapid girl to be pinned between the affections of such utterly unavailable men." He leaned down and looked into her eyes, neither cruel nor gentle in the way he sized her up. "I cannot understand their fascination."

His attention shifted to Daisuke. "Daisuke Niwa. Dark's twelfth wing host. Sixteen years old, and still so terrified by the idea of responsibility that you completely discarded it, only to thrash about pathetically when it was taken away from you. For some reason, Dark's affection for you outweighed your betrayal."

Daisuke's expression was suitably mortified as the words cut deep. They were too true to deny, and something about this being's cold directness made it impossible to hide from the truth that he'd abandoned Dark to the hell that had just gotten him killed. Satoshi's stone-faced scowl and Risa's stunned stare proved the sharp words had hit home all around. It left Daisuke with absolutely nothing to say to the creature in front of him.

"If you know so much about us, then you must still feel something for us, as well. How can you be so cold?" Risa demanded.

"Incorrect." He was beginning to look bored with the lot of them. "The beings you know as Dark and Krad were fundamentally flawed. They were half-human mistakes. Fragments. Their personalities and emotions were just negative side effects."

"So you're saying your emotions are somehow superior to theirs?" Daisuke challenged, heat joining the misery in his voice. "Angels that lived for hundreds of years, and you dismiss all they learned and cared about just like that?"

The Black Wings straightened up. "Yes."

Daisuke lurched forward, looking ready to take a swing at the angel. Power began to glow instantly at the Black Wings' fingertips. Satoshi caught his friend's shoulder and tugged him back. "Don't," the bluenette warned. His eyes swung up to the Black Wings. "Now that you're here, what do you want?"

"I do not want. I simply am." His tone made it very clear that he knew what he was: surreally perfect in form and movement. The ultimate living work of art, superior to them in every way. How could he need or want anything from a bunch of humans?

A bullhorn projected at full volume, making Daisuke jump and Satoshi's hand tighten on his shoulder. "THIS IS THE NATIONAL DEFENSE. WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED. ARMS OVER YOUR HEADS, NOW."

Daisuke, Satoshi, and the others slowly raised their hands, their eyes still glued to the Black Wings. Shira hesitated, but finally followed suit. The angel crossed his arms and studied the armed soldiers who were now visible at the perimeter of the field where they stood. The rat-tat-tat of a helicopter began approaching overhead. Shit, this wasn't just the police. It was the military.

"I REPEAT. YOU ARE SURROUNDED. SUBMIT IMMEDIATELY, OR THE TROOPS WILL FIRE."

The Black Wings made no move to comply. If anything, he looked a little bored. Daisuke glared at him. "If you just stand there, you're going to get us all shot," he snapped.

The angel smirked. "Interesting."

_Shit. _"Everyone, kneel down slowly and lie on your stomachs with your arms over your heads," Satoshi ordered.

The others followed his instructions, lowering themselves to the ground. At least that would make them smaller targets, unless the troops decided to shoot from the air.

"FINAL WARNING! OPENING FIRE."

The Black Wings did not even flinch as a barrage of bullets pelted toward him. He extended one hand, and the projectiles were blown in the opposite direction like paper confetti. The soldiers ducked behind their shields, while the captain called for another round of fire.

The silver-haired angel frowned at the human onslaught. "Impetuous garbage," he muttered, his eyes hardening with disdain. He raised his hand over his head and summoned a wave of energy—the type that would have taken Dark or Krad half their life-force to create. It formed like a giant smoke ring above his head, and then blasted outward in a vicious pulse. The blast knocked the soldiers back like a bomb had just gone off in their faces. Satoshi squinted through the blinding light to see the damage, but he was almost certain the men closest to them were all dead. If he and the others hadn't been at the eye of the storm, they would be too.

"Oh my God," Riku murmured as she raised her eyes to look at the damage. They were definitely not dealing with Dark or Krad. This was something far stronger, and far more reckless.

A loud blast sounded from just beyond the trees. An instant later, a huge artillery shell slammed into the Black Wings' left shoulder and knocked him a step backwards.

"That was a tank cannon," Satoshi realized. They were serious about this. Well, that shouldn't surprise him. The local police had already been taken out. Something like this was bound to get the military's attention. He blinked at the carnage, reminding himself those had been people. Reminding himself to give a shit. He knew he needed to stay focused and practical if they were going to get through this. The truth was, though, he barely had the will to bother moving himself to safety.

The angel frowned at the mangled hole where the shell had ruined his perfect flesh. He placed a hand over the wound. When he lowered his fingers a moment later, the skin was perfect again. His mood, however, was not. "Impudent wretches. You dare strike out against me? You are unfit to even look upon me," he snarled, drawing a feather from his wing in an elegant arc above his head.

"Don't!" Daisuke shouted, scrambling to his feet and latching onto the angel's arm. "Please, if there's any of Dark left in you, just wait! Those are living people!"

"Do you deliberate before crushing mosquitoes when they bite your flesh?" the angel said, throwing the boy off in disgust. "Let me be clear, wing host. The creature you knew as Dark was a pathetic shadow of my correct form. An emotional idealist too afraid of his own power to use it properly. They were both flawed. Broken.

Daisuke landed hard in the dirt and glared up at the angel. "So you're the worst of both worlds, then."

"You misspeak. I am the master copy, not a sum of their parts."

"Look, whatever you are, you can't just keep killing people. Besides, if you keep using magic, you'll burn yourself out," Daisuke warned. "Let us help you."

The angel just smiled fiercely and put a hand out to either side, gathering up a huge, glowing swarm of magic around him. "I am whole now. There are no such limitations on my magic, and no reasons to tolerate the impudence of human garbage." He leapt to the side easily as another round of artillery fire came through the trees. His eyes found Daisuke's. "Approach me again, and I will destroy all of you." With that, he bolted upward in a storm of feathers.

They heard, more than saw, the explosion that resulted as the Black Wings located the tank that had fired on him.

"…Unlimited magic?" Daisuke breathed, as they all stared in the direction the angel had disappeared.

"Satoshi, he's going toward the city. He's going to kill a whole lot of people if something doesn't happen quick," Hattori warned.

Shira stared at the cloud of smoke rising above the trees. If she'd known two days ago that the unassuming prisoner she'd been guarding had the potential to turn into _this… _

She'd have what? Slit his throat? "Perhaps the military can take him," she grimaced.

Risa's bloodshot eyes narrowed. "Whoah. Wait a sec. Dark is in there. We can't just kill him."

"He's already dead, Risa, like it or not," the bluenette said. "And that _thing_ is going to do whatever it wants until we destroy it." The words silenced her, but the color drained from her skin until he wished he hadn't said anything. His chest wrenched hopelessly as he caught the emptiness in her expression. He wasn't wrong. "We're following him. Come on."

Risa was the last to slowly stand up and follow Satoshi toward the city streets. Her chest felt frantic and full of pressure. He was gone. He was _gone. _She expected to want to cry, but her eyes were clear. This feeling was much worse. The pressure was unbearable, like a vacuum was collapsing her from the inside out.

"Satoshi, I know you're upset right now, but don't you think you're being a bit cold? She's hurting as much as you are," Riku caught up to the bluenette as they walked.

"Who says I'm hurting?" the boy frowned at her, warning her to back off.

"Well, Krad-"

"You're mistaken," he said sourly.

"Hey, it's okay to be upset…" she cocked her head at him.

"I'm upset that there's a malevolent statue attacking the city with limitless magic. If you'd rather focus on taking care of Risa, be my guest."

The words hung in the air like poison, and the bluenette made no move to take them back. Riku just shook her head at him. "You're being an ass. Or are you okay with losing your friends, too?"

He didn't respond as she fell back to walk with her sister.

"Satoshi, up ahead," Shira chimed in, pretending she hadn't just heard his conversation.

The bluenette lifted his gaze up ahead. As they neared the border of the park, the city streets in front of them looked more like a military zone than downtown Azumano. Squadcars and police were everywhere, attempting to hold back a huge crowd of gawking civilians. The tank that had fired through the trees was a burning mess in the middle of the road, but another one was rolling in to take its place. The army wasn't taking this lightly.

Just as the approaching reinforcements brought new hope to the men on the ground, a fierce beam of energy crashed down into the second tank. Satoshi and the others had just enough time to look skyward at the angel who had summoned the attack, before the explosion knocked them all flat. Chunks of shrapnel crunched across the asphalt, sending even the toughest-looking men on the scene temporarily ducking for cover.

The Harada sisters were left huddling together next to a damaged lamp post. "Risa… Did the Black Wings just blow up a tank in one shot?" Riku murmured, staring between her fingers at the fiery heap at the center of the road.

"I believe he did," Risa whispered. Her arms were wrapped protectively around her sister. She forced herself not to look up as every weapon within five blocks pointed skyward and fired on the angel. The deafening chorus of weaponry left her huddled into herself on the ground.

"It's ok," Riku raised a reassuring look to her shaking sister. "I don't think they even scratched him."

Risa nodded meagerly, still not sure she wanted to look up. She felt relieved at her sister's words, but why? What was that monster up there, to her? What _could_ he be? "Maybe it would be better if they took him down," she whispered. "He's hurting a lot of people."

"Would you be okay with that?" Riku asked, leaning down to make eye contact with her sister. She believed Risa's words were correct, but she wasn't so sure the girl really meant them.

Risa grimaced while more explosions sounded ahead of them. The smoke in the air was thick and sour. She could hear Daisuke and Satoshi somewhere nearby shouting over the din, discussing what to do about this disaster. Police and military were barking orders, trying to regroup and avoid more casualties. She raised her eyes carefully and made herself see the disaster taking place around them. "I don't need to be okay," she trembled. "The city is in trouble, and Dark…isn't here. We need to concentrate on taking that thing down however we can." She peered through the smoky air into her sister's worried eyes. It seemed like flames and noise were creeping in on them in all directions. "Let's get to someplace safe," she said, reaching for Riku's hand.

Their fingers met for just an instant. A chunk of one of the squadcars caught Riku square in the back and knocked her to the ground. Risa's voice failed her as she opened her mouth to scream. She hated the helpless feeling it gave her. She took a step toward her fallen sister, but a harsh squeal of metal brought her eyes upward. The streetlamp was falling straight toward them. Her eyes flew wide as the heavy metal beam approached. Another assault. Another tragedy. Another stupid, cruel joke. Her legs were scared. They wanted to run.

Her arms had other ideas. Her arms were _pissed._ She threw her hands up toward the falling post, and her voice didn't fail her this time. A scream of unmitigated, defiant anger burst from her throat as she bent her knees and grabbed the falling metal with all the strength she had in her small body.

The weight was too much for her, but she dug in against it like she was fighting off every nightmare that had ever tormented her. "Grrrah!" she howled as she twisted her weight and heaved the overpowering mass sideways, away from her sister. It landed a few feet to their right with a resounding _gong. _One more harsh instrument in the destructive orchestra blaring around them.

Risa breathed stiffly as she straightened up, her now-shaking hands lowering to her sides. It took a few moments to overcome the disbelief that she'd really caught and redirected such a huge object. Maybe she was braver than she thought? She turned and scanned the area for Satoshi or Daisuke, but she couldn't spot either of them through the smoke and noise. Anyone who hadn't taken cover by now would have to be insane. "Riku," she called to her sister, half-falling to her knees next to her twin. The adrenaline was wearing off and leaving her heavy as a wet blanket. Her sister was breathing, but unconscious. "Come on, there's no way I'll be able to carry you like this," Risa whined. She took her sister's hand and held it protectively to her forehead. "Come on, stay strong, girl," she ordered herself. "You're not leaving her here."

She flinched as a stray bullet flew into a tree trunk near them. "Shoot, shoot, shoot," she muttered, flattening herself to the ground and crawling in close to her sister. "Just have to stay low. Nothing's going to attack us if we stay low. No problem!" She squinted out into the mess. It was horrifying that she couldn't even see the winged creature that was causing all this damage. From the sound of the ongoing gunfire and explosions, neither side was giving in so far. What would happen if nothing could stop the Black Wings? She closed her eyes against the idea. What if his power really was unlimited? How many people were going to die?

She huddled close to her sister, her hopes draining by the minute. Lying on the hard ground finally drew her attention to an object digging into her hip. She dug into her pocket and her fingers closed around the amulet Dark had given her. Its shape was familiar by now, and feeling it in her grasp brought back the memory of Dark's voice. She pulled it loose and held it in front of her. The polished marble reflected the dismal scene surrounding them. "Not much good now, are you?" she murmured.

Her brown eyes flickered to the ground, burning like acid.

"_I love you too."_

The ache inside her chest seemed to draw her in on herself. "Idiot," she barely whispered. "You weren't supposed to get yourself killed."

She held the stone out in front of her and studied it. Krad had said the stone was bonded to Dark's soul. She supposed it was probably worthless, now that Dark's soul was part of the Black Wings, if it even existed at all.

Krad's words came back to her. _"Talk. He'll hear. Just think of your target, and speak."_

A crazy thought came to her. The spell on this stone held a very specific link to Dark's soul. If she called out to it hard enough…was there any way the part of the Black Wings that had been Dark might respond? Her thoughts went to Trap's machine, designed to separate souls by isolating their mental signatures. Couldn't it be possible….even a little bit possible, maybe… that her stone could perform the same task?

She was crazy. She was alone, and scared, and making things up in her head to comfort herself. She knew that perfectly well. She leaned into her unconscious sister's shoulder and frowned at the object in her hand. "Sometimes being crazy hurts less than being honest," she murmured. She pressed the stone to her heart. It didn't take any effort to let her thoughts go to the angel. "Dark," she pleaded. "Please, come back. Don't leave us here without you."

She lay still and listened to the sounds of battle and shouting surrounding her. "Of course not…" she muttered, dropping the stone to the ground. "Of course not." No longer in the mood for wishful thinking, she climbed to her feet and hauled her sister up over her shoulder. She had to get them out of here. It was too dangerous, and there was nothing they could do to help. Not anymore.

She kept a tight grip on her sister and made her way along the border of the park, trying to stay away from the street where bolts of angelic magic kept blasting down at the struggling vehicles and humans. The debris and smoke in the air made it hard to catch her breath, but she threw her focus into running for the end of the block where there was less fighting.

The hand that grabbed her sleeve caught her so off guard that it almost sent her swinging. She whirled on a tense Daisuke, who had to jump back out of the way to avoid Riku's swinging legs. "Dai," she gasped as she recognized him and the bluenette standing just behind him. Sato looked distracted, staring up above them. She looked at Daisuke instead. The redhead's eyes looked urgent, and she expected him to ask her about Riku.

Instead, the first thing out of his mouth was "Are you seeing this?"

"Seeing…what…?" Risa murmured as her eyes followed Daisuke's to the sky.

The Black Wings, in all his white glory, was still hovering in the sky above the human defenses and city buildings. However, a second set of wings had fanned out behind him, black as midnight against the bright summer sky. "What the..." Risa blinked at the changed appearance. Was the Black Wings powering up even stronger? Or… no, it couldn't possibly be Dark.

The angel above them crossed his arms over his chest, as if building up some unseen force inside him. If that was an attack, they were directly in harm's way. "We have to get out of here!" she gasped, tugging on Daisuke's sleeve even as her feet refused to budge. All of them were frozen in suspense, watching their attacker.

A burst of light blurred out their view for an instant, but a figure clearly burst away from the Black Wings' form, straightening up as if literally rising from its body.

_Bright. Everything was so bright, even the suffocating power in his chest. He squinted his eyes to make out the blinding form…his own form, looking back at him. _

_No. That wasn't him, anymore. He was… who was he? He had to close his eyes against the brightness of reality. It felt like it had been dark for a very, very long time. Why? _

"_You should not exist," a voice – his voice – growled. He blinked and squinted at the white-haired figure in front of him. White eyes full of cold anger were staring nose to nose with him. "Disappear." A fist shot forward. Perfect, long fingers gripped his forearm. He was pulled off balance – no, he was in the air – and heard the crackling of magical energy above his head. Before he could think, his head splintered apart in agony. The blast tore into him and hurled him downward to the broken asphalt below. He crashed across the rough pavement and lay in shock. He managed to raise a bleeding arm to his throbbing skull. That wasn't him. He wasn't himself. _

"Dark!"

"Risa, wait!" Daisuke called after the brunette as she launched toward the figure that had just crashed to the ground next to them. "Be careful!"

The girl ignored his warning, bolting to the violet-haired man's side. The angel was twisted over, drawing painful gasps. He braced his wrists under him and pushed to his feet. He was hurt, but he didn't seem very aware of it. Risa shifted her sister's weight on her shoulder and jumped forward to block him from moving. "Hold still, Dark. Don't move anything," she warned.

He touched his head and groaned, more openly than she'd ever known him to do in front of an audience. He didn't even look at her. "Dark, is it really you?" she pleaded. She grabbed for his wrist, only to pass right through it.

No. That wasn't possible.

She was still telling that to herself as the angel started forward and walked directly through her body. It made her nerves squirm. She whirled to keep an eye on him, her stomach rolling. He looked just like Dark. Was she imagining him? Maybe she was losing her mind? Hope and dread swarmed together in her chest.

"How is he doing this?" Satoshi asked aloud as he and Daisuke made it to her side. Their eyes followed the angel closely.

"You see him, right? He's really alive?" Risa's head spun.

"He's not quite alive, exactly," the bluenette murmured. "Perhaps holding himself together on a parallel plane, at least for now. But he's more real than he ought to be after what happened. Once he rejoined the Black Wings, there should have been nothing left to distinguish him. Assuming that's even Dark, what could be giving him form like this?"

Risa stiffened. "No way. The stone!" She threw Riku into Daisuke's arms and bolted for where she'd been lying before. Her fingers shook as she rummaged through the grass. Why had she thrown it away? She ignored the others' confused looks when they caught up to her. When her fingers closed around the cool, smooth object, she pulled it to her chest along with the grass around it and squeezed it for dear life. It looked dusty, and a long crack had formed through it. She had a moment to ponder the erosion in the perfect marble.

"Dark!" she shouted. The angel was walking through the police barricades and soldiers like they didn't exist, but they certainly saw _him_. She could hear them arguing about whether to divert fire from the angel in the air to this new force on the ground, but this specter that looked like Dark Mousy didn't appear to be hurting anyone. He did, however, freeze and look around at the sound of a female voice.

"Dark, it's me. Please, you need to do something. Help us stop him! He's going to kill everyone."

_***He's going to kill everyone!***__ the voice rang in his head, distantly familiar. Who was she? Who was 'everyone'? He was the only one here. He and…himself. He raised his eyes to the white-haired angel above him, all silver and beauty. _

_***Dark!***__ The voice screamed again. He raised his hands slowly to the sides of his head. He was... was he Dark? And there was something about that voice. It felt like he should know something extremely important. __***Dark, if you can hear me, then please! You need to stop the Black Wings! I know you can't see us, but he's hurting everyone.* **_

_He looked upward and observed the being in the sky firing down at the ground. As hard as he tried, nothing struck him as familiar. Supposedly, he was Dark. And the creature floating in the air above him… for some reason, that was him, too. Dark scanned the area around him, and could make out spectral forms moving like shadows on the street. They seemed to be fleeing something. He blinked as one of them passed straight through him. He took another look at the white-haired angel. Who were they, and why was he attacking them? __***Who are you? What's happening?* **__he demanded of the voice in his head. _

_The answer was drowned out in a hail of explosions. Hurting people… Those shadowy forms were people?_

"_Hey!" he shouted up at the white-haired being. He launched into the air and beat his wings firmly to reach the man's position in the air. "Stop this. You're hurting people…somehow…down there," he warned, frowning at the other's careless expression._

"_Those humans mean nothing. They are flawed. As are you," the Black Wings said, casting a disgusted look over his fragment. "Disappear." He threw a hand out and fired a blast of light at the angel. _

_Dark jerked sideways, barely missing the blow. Memories were slowly beginning to return to him, as if he'd been sleepwalking in someone else's mind. Anger started up in his veins. "Is that how it is? Well, I suppose we have a breakdown of negotiations," he sneered at the Black Wings._

"He figured it out! He's fighting back." Daisuke clenched his hands to his chest as his tense expression followed the two figures above them.

"He's distracted!" shouted one of the officers nearby, urging his troops from their cover. "Regroup and fire with all you've got!"

They were too far off for Risa and the others to see details, but it was obvious that Dark and the Black Wings were trading blows. It was also, unfortunately, clear that for every attack successfully launched by the violet-haired angel, his opponent was able to connect at least three.

Risa glanced down at the stone. The edges were laced with hairline cracks, and the whole thing had faded to a dull gray.

"He's not going to last long by himself," Satoshi noted. "The military needs to get itself in gear."

"It looks like they're more organized now, but it sure doesn't look like anything's connecting," Daisuke worried. "The only thing that seems to be able to really hit him is Dark."

"Risa?" Satoshi asked, noticing that she'd turned away and crouched down next to the road. "What happened?"

She hunched over, her fingers folded tightly in prayer around the stone. "I can't watch. I just can't, if he's killed again. I can't!" she croaked out shamefully. "I'm so pathetic."

***Ha. What would be the fun in getting myself killed?***

Her head shot up. ***Dark?***

***No fun, that's what. Sit tight. I'm going to recruit some help.***

"Help?" she murmured, looking over her shoulder at the sky.

_Dark spread his arms out and cast a web of purple magic over his opponent. The Black Wings glared at the net around him in annoyance. It was meant to keep him from moving, but such an attack was like throwing a butterfly net over a falcon. Dark ignored the other angel's rage and used the distraction to his best advantage. He closed his eyes and joined his hands in front of him. Chanting an incantation, he built up the image he wanted in his mind, focusing on it with all he had. _

_The net did not hold the Black Wings for long at all. He was able to rip it in half, sending tattered strands of power flying all around him. His glare went straight to Dark, and he darted forward to take a crushing swing at the thief's face. _

_Dark threw himself just barely enough to the side and grabbed onto the man's wrist with both hands, trapping it. He whispered a few focused words, and pulled. The arm he was holding separated from the Black Wings' arm, leaving the silver-haired angel wide-eyed. Dark held onto the pale hand he was now grasping for dear life and hauled back. A new form split from the Black Wings' body. It was phantomlike and not quite real, just like Dark's form. _

_Dark caught the other man against him as the blonde faltered in the air. The weight was boneless and heavy. Dark embraced him carefully. For a moment, he wondered if he'd made a critical error when drawing him out. _

_Then the eyes opened, alert and raging like a maelstrom of gold._

**-o0o0oOOOo0o0o-**

**To be continued!**

Thank you all so much for reading! I'm so sorry for the long update time. I hope everyone has a wonderful new year and that the coming year brings you closer to all your goals, creative or otherwise. If you have a few seconds, please leave me a review! In all likelihood, the next chapter will be the last (though I may succumb to the temptation to do an epilogue).

Love,

Kat


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